


Soulless

by nyanbacon



Category: Supernatural, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: "The Family Business", "a succubus a chimera and a dullahan walk into a bar", Angels, Asexual Character, Brotherly Fluff, Centaurs, Crossover, DO NOT BE DETERRED BY THE SHIPPING TAGS, Demons, Drinking, F/M, Ghosts, God - Freeform, Hell, Human AU, Hunting, I legit haven't finished the planning yet, If you want a monster I probably got it, Mentions of Sex, Mermaids, Minor Character Death, Monsters, Vampire Turning, Vampires, a chimera, a made up artifact because apparently my search was too specific??, a succubus - Freeform, go off I guess, god is a lil bitch, is this the Bible?, its very weird and all over the place just because how everyone is positioned, just bear with the story, just like in supernatural, long story short- they don't all stay that way, monster hunting, one single dullahan, tags to be updated, technically it's not even Apritello its completely different, the Devil - Freeform, you got all these chariots but not one of these
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-08-16 20:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 21,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16502321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyanbacon/pseuds/nyanbacon
Summary: Raphael Winchester shows up on his younger brother Leonardo's apartment doorstep unprovoked, claiming their father, John "Splinter" Winchester, went missing on a hunt.Will Leo join Raph in his search for their father? And if so, will they find Splinter before it's too late?--Spoiler heavy, but is mostly hidden if you haven't actually watched Supernatural. That being said, this will spoil some episodes and subplots if you aren't careful.





	1. The Nest, Part 1

No one had ever told Leonardo Winchester that his life choices were  _ bad _ .

He’d just repeatedly been told they would be frowned upon by the people he thought cared about him. 

Leo had never received special treatment as a kid. Not like his older brother had. He’d been plain, ordinary, and sometimes, he believed, downright unwanted. It was never outwardly said, and their father  _ tried  _ to show his affection. He cared about Leo. Leo knew that. He knew from the way Splinter had fought so violently with him when Leo insisted on going to college. He knew from the way his father wouldn’t look him in the eyes as he packed his bags and left in a small car that wasn’t big enough for Leo and his girlfriend and all their bags. He knew from the way his chest still ached even as he drove away from the motel that had been his home for a mere few days. 

He knew. But yet, sometimes, it was still hard to believe. 

There was nothing  _ wrong _ with the family business. No, if anything, Leo aspired to it. He wanted to be as good as Splinter and Raphael could be at doing good and saving people. He’d just… never been given the chance.

Instead, he chose to find his calling elsewhere, at a school he couldn’t afford now but hopefully could pay off later. Hopefully. 

He sighed for the umpteenth time that Thursday night, rolling onto his side. He was tangled up in the sheets on his bed, having spent the past hour tossing and turning without being able to fall asleep. He wasn’t trying all that hard, if he was honest with himself. Karai was taking a shower in the other room, and he preferred for her to get into bed next to him before he even tried. 

It was a precautionary safeguard he never really grew out of, despite how much it annoyed Karai. 

He opened his eyes when the water finally shut off, and lifted his head up off the pillow so he could sit up. Rubbing his eyes, he tensed his muscles up so he could stretch without having to move his body too much. The door to the bathroom opened, and he looked over his shoulder as Karai emerged, wrapped in a towel.

She paused when she had one foot out of the doorway, stony gaze settling on him. “... you’re still awake,” she said, worded as if it were a question but spoken as a statement. 

“Yes,” he confirmed, nodding. 

She sighed and stepped the rest of the way out of the bathroom. He watched her movements- turn off the light, leave the door slightly ajar so the steam would vent, and tip toe over to the dresser, afraid of getting water on the carpet as she fished for her clothes. 

“You know I don’t go to sleep without you.” He got to his feet and strode over, carefully avoiding stepping on the wet footprints. She was picky about that.

“You’re just paranoid, Leo.” She turned to look up at him when he stopped behind her to watch what she grabbed. “You need to be getting sleep.”

He shrugged and stepped back when she nudged against his front to push him out of the way. “I’m not sure you’d get it even if I did explain it.”

She looked at him challengingly as she pulled her clothes on. “Try me.”

For a moment, he wanted to. Some agonizingly infuriating urge made him want to tell her- want to tell her  _ why _ he left,  _ why _ he wouldn’t call his family,  _ why he wouldn’t read the letters they got sent in the mail— _

But he couldn’t. Partially, it was because it would put her in too much danger. Already being here and trying to live a normal life away from hunting was a risk as it was. Exposing her to that? That was the last thing Leo wanted to do.

But part of it was because right then, there was a loud crash from the front room, and the sound of something glass breaking apart on the tile in the apartment room kitchenette.

Karai jumped and looked at the door to the bedroom in wide eyed alarm. Leo, reflexively, reached out for her arm and pulled her back behind him, putting himself between her and the doorway. There was an audible curse from the other room.

Leo turned to tell Karai to hide in the bathroom, but by the time he’d twisted his head to see her, she’d moved around him and turned the lights out in the bedroom. He blinked, trying to let his eyes get adjusted. “What are you doing,” he hissed.

“They’ll be more disoriented if the room is dark,” Karai shot back before suddenly opening the bedroom door. 

Leo inhaled a sharp breath as footsteps pounded across the floor, heavy and fast and  _ angry _ , somehow, before hands invisible in the dark shoved Leo back into the dresser. He grunted in pain as his back hit the edge and quickly kicked out at the attacker. He hit something at an indirect angle, not quite knowing what he managed to hit in the dark.

Not that it mattered. His ankle was suddenly grabbed and he was yanked forward. His head hit the edge of the dresser as he went down and was dragged back towards the bed. The attacker seemed to trip over the end, similarly blind. Leo took this moment to roll back into a sitting position and wrap his arms around his legs so he could pull the attacker to the floor and pin him down. He managed to get one thigh down before a fist hit his cheek and he was knocked to the side, reeling. 

He gasped in alarm when hands landed on his chest again and grabbed his shirt, dragging Leo across the room and pressing him up against the wall. Leo quickly grabbed the forearms of the attacker, trying in vain to push him off. He was too strong.

He was suddenly thrown to the floor and straddled, the attacker hovering above his stomach as he was held down by the hands at his chest. He dug his nails into the forearms of the attacker, but they were covered by sleeves of a thick jacket.

A jacket that felt familiar.

When Leo gave up on moving and stopped making so much noise rustling on the floor, Karai finally turned the lights on. With Leo’s head tilted up towards the ceiling, the light was blinding for a moment, and he squinted his eyes against it.

After a moment, breath held, he opened them to stare back at the intense but almost playful green eyes looking back at him. 

“Hey Leo,” the attacker said gruffly, a smirk spreading across his lips.

“... Raph?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you weren't keeping track, here's the guide:  
> Leo = Sam  
> Raph = Dean  
> Karai = Jessica  
> This will be updated as important characters are introduced.


	2. The Nest, Part 2

Much to Leo’s discontent, Karai had insisted that they sit Raph down and show him some hospitality. Leo didn’t think Raph deserved it. He had, after all, broken into the apartment and shattered a piece of glassware all over the kitchen floor.

“So let me get this straight,” Leo finally said when Raph had shut up long enough to open the beer Karai had offered him. “You happen to be in town on a  _ job _ , decide that because I happen to be living nearby, I should come help you, and in order to ask for my help, you break into my apartment and break something all over my kitchen floor before proceeding to  _ attack _ me.”

“I think it’s one of the warmest fucking welcomes I’ve ever given you,” Raph grunted before tipping the bottle back and taking a large gulp that made Leo cringe. 

The younger shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Raph wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and pointed to the glass that Karai was sweeping up from off the tile. “What was that thing anyway?”

Karai glanced up, straightening a bit. “Oh, just an old family vase.”

Raph nodded and took another gulp of the alcohol. Leo watched with a vaguely disgusted frown. 

“So will you help me?” Raph finally said, looking at Leo with his bright green eyes, his gaze silently saying ‘join me or so help me  _ god _ I will-’

“No.”

Raph paused, and then scoffed, clearly trying to cover up surprise at the answer. “ _ What _ ?”

“I said no.” Leo folded his arms. “There’s a reason I left the family business. I’m staying gone.”

Raph’s face twisted into something hesitant and upset- an awful look for the brother- but seemed ready to settle for this answer and take his leave.

Until Karai piped up.

“Leo, you can’t  _ mean _ that. He’s your family, and he’s not even asking all that much. It’s just ‘a job’. He’ll be gone in a few days.”

Leo stiffened as Raph’s gaze hardened again and fell on him.

“You didn’t tell her?” He asked lowly.

“I told her… some things,” Leo answered vaguely. “Like the ‘work hours’.”

“Tell me what.”

“She’s your  _ girlfriend _ , Leo. I would think she, of all people, deserves to know.”

“It’s bigger than that, Raph.”

“Well, yeah, everything is with you, but-”

“Tell me  _ what, _ ” Karai suddenly said, more insistently, and Leo bit his lower lip.

“You want me to tell her?” Raph offered.

“... it would help,” he admitted, loosening his arms just to refold them tighter over his chest.

Raph turned to look at where Karai had gone still. She tore her stony gaze away from Leo to make eye contact with Raph when it became evident Leo wouldn’t give her the answers she wanted.

“You know those things kids are scared of? Like, ghosts and shit?”

“... yeah? I would assume everyone does…”

“Well, they’re real.”

A pause.

“‘nd the Winchester family is known for hunting ‘em.”

A longer pause. 

“Neat.”

“Neat?” Leo asked, turning on her incredulously.

“Yeah.” Karai shrugged, brushing off his shock. “So if you’re in here on a job… that means you’re hunting something close by?”

Raph nodded, leaning back against the couch. “You catch on quick.”

“What’re you hunting?”

Leo stood away from the two of them, staring out the window in the bedroom through the doorway. He didn’t want to listen to everything he’d worked so hard to construct from absolutely  nothing come crashing down around his ears. He felt light headed.

“Well, it’s pretty stereotypical, but I’m working on a nest of vampires.”

Without looking, Leo could feel the way Karai’s eyes lit up. He could hear her set the broom aside, and settle down on the couch. The way she asked about what vampires were like, and what they’d done, and how Raph would fix it…

She was so  _ innocent _ .

He sighed and rubbed his face with one hand, moving towards the bedroom. Raph paused in his explanation to turn his head and look at Leo.

“Are you not gonna-”

“I gave you my answer, Raph.” Leo’s voice was small, weak, resigned. “I’m not going to help you.”

“I will,” Karai offered. “If Leo won’t.”

There was a heavy pause in the air that Leo only broke by moving further into the bedroom. He turned to shut the door but paused when Raph grabbed the edge, keeping him from doing so.

Leo looked at the shorter of the two, and Raph stared up at him. His eyes were a mixture of emotions to Leo- Raph had always been hard to read to him. Now, though, Raph seemed especially distressed. Desperate, even.

It was just a vampire nest…

“You know I don’t want to put her at risk anymore than you do.” He forced the door open a bit more. “C’mon, Leo, just give me this  _ one _ thing, and I’ll leave you to pursue your…”

“... degree, Raph,” Leo murmured tiredly. “It’s called a degree.”

“I wanna keep her out of the business,” Raph said, and for a moment, he sounded sincere. “But you gotta pick up what I’m puttin’ down if we’re gonna get anywhere.”

For a moment, Leo glanced behind Raph, back at where Karai was picking up the broken porcelain shards. At everything he’d worked so hard for. At everything he didn’t want to lose. 

He sighed and opened the door the rest of the way, looking down at Raph. “Fine. Just this once.”

Raph grinned. “Just this once. I promise.”

Karai watched the exchange with a frown before looking at Leo when he stepped out of the bedroom. Raph stepped to the side and picked up the last of his beer from off the table. “I still got your weapons in the back of the car,” the ginger grunted before downing the rest of the alcohol. 

“Polished  _ and  _ sharpened?” Leo tugged on a flannel he kept in the closet next to the front door. 

“Psh, no? You were always so  _ weird _ about your weapons.” Raph tossed the bottle in the trash as he passed. 

“Just like you were weird about your car.” Leo paused when Karai turned to follow them, and she scowled.

“You’re not gonna keep me from helping.”

“I can.”

“No you can’t.”

Leo exchanged a glance with Raph, who shrugged. He looked back at Karai. “Fine. But at least go put on some pants first.”

She looked down, only now realizing she’d merely thrown on one of Leo’s oversized shirts before Raph had so rudely interrupted their conversation. She disappeared into the bedroom to pull a pair of jeans on, and the three trekked downstairs.

Leo felt a sense of familiarity wash over him when he saw the impala parked in the parking spot closest to the entrance of the lot. It was an unwanted familiarity, because he could distinctly remember hoping he’d never see the damn thing again when he left, but it was familiarity nonetheless.

Raph opened the trunk and propped it open before pulling up the second cover and dusting off some of the bags of ammo resting in the bottom. He set one duffel on the ground and reached in, pulling out a belt with a long hilt attached. He turned and mockingly bent down slightly to hand it to Leo with a half bow.

Leo snorted and snatched the weapon out of his hands. “Give me this,” he growled before grabbing the handle and unsheathing the weapon. 

Glinting back at him in the light of the half moon was the pristine blade of a freshly polished katana. 


	3. The Nest, Part 3

Leo sat in the passenger seat of the impala, running his hands over the familiar texture of the weapon in his lap. It had been… nearly a year since he’d been able to hold it again, and yet it felt so  _ right _ .

Karai sat in the back, tapping her nails along the blade of a wakizashi Raph had (sort of stupidly) handed her. The ginger was driving, and kept clutching the wheel tighter and tighter at the ticking noise. 

Eventually, Leo tore his gaze away from the scenery passing outside the window to look at Karai in the rearview mirror. “Karai…”

“Hm?” She looked away from the window to look at his figure.

“... listen.” Leo looked down at the katana in his lap. “I know hunting seems like a…”

“Some glorified job,” Raph filled in, and Leo glanced at him before nodding. 

“But it’s a lot messier than people seem to realize, before their first hunt.”

“And it’s not something you can easily get out of,” Raph added, turning off the streets onto a dirt road. 

“So you’re just worried about me getting wrapped up in something I can’t take care of.” Her face folded into a noticeable scowl. 

“It’s easier than you’d think-”

“Don’t lecture me, Leo. I think I know how to take care of myself.”

Leo grimaced and looked back out the window. Raph frowned. He lifted his foot off the gas so they drove slower into the forest on the edge of town.

“Leo jus’ doesn’t want you letting hunting become your whole life.”

“I would think that’s pretty hard to do,” Karai shot back.

“It’s… easier’n people seem to assume.” Raph turned off the high beams. “It happened to our dad, after mom died.”

“... You mean he wasn’t always a hunter?”

“He gave it up when he married ta try an’ give mom the life she wanted.” He slowed to a stop. “But after she died…”

“It became all he worked on.” Leo unbuckled his seat belt. “It became his whole life.”

“... oh.”

“And then Leo left.”

“There was a lot more that went on between when he turned back to hunting and when I left, Raph.” Leo paused in opening the door to glare at Raph.

“Not enough ta justify you leavin’.” Raph stepped out of the car and slammed the door a bit too roughly, telling Leo to quit arguing without really saying anything. Leo bristled as he stepped out of the car, but Raph had already opened the trunk and was pulling out a machete for himself. Karai got out of the car and hovered by Raph. 

“I’m not gonna-”

“Just shut up, Leo.” Raph slammed the trunk closed. Karai flinched. “You left, and that’s all there is to it.”

“It’s not-”

“I said  _ drop it _ .”

Leo clamped his mouth shut, narrowing his eyes at Raph. The eldest didn’t register the hateful look, instead heading further up the scarcely trodden dirt road. “Come on. It’s up this way.”

Karai moved to follow Raph and Leo brought up the rear, shouldering his katana. Raph seemed to be lecturing Karai softly on how to kill vampires, and showing her how to use the wakizashi. Leo felt a little sick to his stomach.

Further down the road, through the trees that looked like large shadows in the early morning dark, was a rundown house. Leo only vaguely knew the story behind it- it had belonged to the founder of the town before he died, and no one had wanted to buy the house because it was so far away from the town. No one was really sure why he’d built it so far away. 

Now, though, a nest of vampires had holed up in the building, so there was no point in respecting it and the history of the town. 

Raph pushed open the unlocked door and raised the machete as he stepped into the front room. The house appeared empty, and unlit, and downright dreary. With the way the rotted wood creaked every time they stepped on it, it couldn’t have been anything less. 

To the left was a set of stairs that led to the upper level, and ahead of them was a hallway that lead to the kitchen. Raph gravitated towards the stair set, so Leo walked with his back to the wall towards the kitchen. Karai followed Leo, raising her wakizashi carefully. Leo swallowed dryly and tried to not think about her presence behind him. 

The kitchen appeared to be empty, and Leo lowered his katana from where he had the end raised dangerously. The stale scent of death hung in the air and made him wrinkle his nose. 

This brought back memories.

He didn’t quite have time to react to the footsteps approaching him, but when he swung around to lash out at whatever was running down the hallway, Karai was moved out of the way against Leo’s will, and pinned to the wall. A vampire turned and snarled at Leo, holding his arm against her chest and her wrists up above her head with his other hand.

Leo pointed the katana at him, trying to keep the adrenaline suddenly flooding his veins under control. “Let her go.”

“And let a perfectly good meal go to waste?” He grinned. “I think not.”

Karai growled and kicked his leg. The vampire didn’t waver, instead grabbing her and throwing her to the ground so he could pin her down with his body. Leo lunged forward, raising the katana, only to be grabbed from behind by a second vampire. She reached up and swung his arm down so violently the katana slipped from his grip, and pinned his wrists behind his back as she forced him to his knees. He growled and struggled against her supernaturally strong grip. 

The vampire sniffed at Karai’s neck and hummed, pulling away slightly. She writhed under him, glaring him in the eye. 

“You know… you might make a good little soldier.” He half lay on top of her, his elbows keeping him supported as he ran his grimy fingers through her hair.

“I’d never join you,” she growled.

And Leo’s blood ran cold.

He suddenly struggled, writhed, trying to do  _ anything  _ to get out of the vampire’s grip. “Don’t you  _ dare _ !”

“Oh, you poor mortal.” He turned to look at Leo with bright eyes. “When will you realize you don’t get a say in this?”

“Don’t touch her!”

“Leo?” Raph called from upstairs, and Leo heard him come down the stairs before his footsteps fell silent. 

He looked at the vampire. “You can do whatever you want to  _ me _ , but don’t touch her.”

The vampire hummed, almost seeming to consider the answer, before shaking his head. “I want to see you suffer.”

He pulled a blade out of his belt, still holding himself up with one elbow, and cut open his forearm with a smooth downward motion. Blood that almost looked human but yet wasn’t bright enough to be from anything living seeped out of the cut.

He held his arm against her mouth and she shrieked. “Drink.”

“Don’t swallow it!” Leo shrieked, suddenly leaning forward and trying to tug himself out of the grip still on his wrists. The vampire yanked him back, wrapping her arms around her torso so her lips trailed along his neck. He squeezed his eyes shut, looking away from where he could hear Karai struggling against the vampire. 

The struggling fell silent and Leo opened his eyes hesitantly to see Karai wiping her mouth on her forearm. The vampire had his hands all over her- on her waist, her side, her shoulder- and was whispering something indiscernible in her ear. He stared at Leo with a look that made a shiver go down his spine. 

“Karai…?” He called hesitantly, shifting and trying to get his neck away from the vampire holding him. She followed his flesh, but didn’t do anything to marr the flesh. He shuddered uncomfortably.

Karai turned to look at him, and something in her eyes had changed. They weren’t the eyes he was familiar with. She carefully moved across the floor of the old house, reaching out to place her fingertips softly on Leo’s cheek. 

“Karai…” Leo breathed, choking on the name.

For a moment, something familiar glimmered in her eyes, and she hesitated, before moving forward and sinking newfound fangs into her skin.

He hissed. The vampire let go of him and he reached up to grab Karai’s shoulders, trying to get her off of him, but he could feel his energy being drained with his blood. 

She pushed him to the floor and continued to lap at his neck hungrily. For a split second, Leo could see a red, angry figure blitz across his blurring vision, but the edges of his vision were going dark and he found he couldn’t keep his eyes open. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some discrepancies between how long turning takes in Supernatural and how long I needed turning to work here to get the plot across. Usually, turning takes a couple hours to a couple days in Supernatural.  
> (This part is going to end up longer than I intended....)


	4. The Nest, Part 4

Leo woke up in the passenger seat of the impala, neck sore and aching, and still feeling a bit groggy. He reached up and pressed his hand to the side of his neck, frowning when his fingers brushed across a bandage taped neatly to it.

“Oh good. You’re awake.”

He jumped and looked over at the speaker, who was sitting in the driver seat. Raph looked at him when he moved, screwing the cap of a flask closed. “You alright?”

Leo rubbed the wound on his neck. “Could be better… what happened?”

Raph’s face twisted into something awful and Leo felt sick. Or hungry. He couldn’t quite tell. “You ain’t gonna like the answer.”

“I never do.” He picked at the bandage until Raph leaned over and snatched his arm away from the wound.

“Karai bit you.”

“... oh.”

It wasn’t all clear, but Leo remembered. He could remember the feeling of Karai’s lips against his neck, the feeling of his blood being drained….

He could remember watching her being turned.

He looked at Raph. “... you came downstairs while she was…”

“I did,” Raph answered, when it became evident Leo wouldn’t finish the sentence. He tucked the flask into the pocket of his jacket.

“Did you kill her?”

Raph glanced at Leo out of the corner of his eye, and Leo shifted uncomfortably. “... no. I didn’t.”

Leo glanced up the driveway towards the big house that looked like it would collapse in on itself at the next gust of wind. “... is she in there.”

“Uh huh.”

Ignoring how dizzy and sick he felt, he stepped out of the car and headed up into the house. The door creaked as he pushed it open, and he could hear footsteps approaching before he saw Karai appear in the hallway to the kitchen.

“... hey,” he greeted, looking at her.

“... hey,” she responded, looking off to the side.

“... so. You’re a vampire now.”

“Yup.” She popped the P. “I… well, I can’t really do the same things I used to do.”

“... right.”

“So I was gonna… go.”

He’d made that connection minutes ago, when he first realized. When Raph had told him. But it wasn’t until _she_ said it, until she validated it, that it made his chest explode with pain. It took all his willpower to not stumble from an invisible punch to the gut.

“I… hadn’t thought of that,” he lied, rubbing the back of his neck. He hated the way his voice wavered.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice soft and full of similar heartache. “But its…”

“It wouldn’t be the same,” Leo filled in. “I know.”

“... we lead two different lives, Leo.”

He stared at the floor.

“We always would. You just spent all your time running from it.”

He clenched his hands into his fists into his pockets and sucked in a shaky breath. Why did she have to keep talking? Why couldn’t she just shut up?

He heard her walk across the floor and lifted his head when she placed her fingers delicately, lovingly, on the underside of his chin. She stared at him, and he watched her eyes glisten with unshed tears. “Leo-”

Without warning, Leo placed his hands on her cheeks and pulled her close so he could kiss her. It wasn’t the same- her lips were cold, dead, weirdly chapped…

But she kissed back, reaching up and tangling her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. Even though the kiss felt alien, it still held all the passion it always had.

She still loved him. _She hated this as much as he did_.

He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, rubbing a tear from her cheek with his thumb. She closed her eyes and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder. He hugged her back tightly, staring off into the dimly lit interior of the house.

She stood in the doorway of the house, watching as the impala headed back towards the main roads. A duffel bag was slung across her shoulder, packed with a gun and some bullets, and the wakizashi Raph had given her. Leo felt sick.

“... I’m sorry,” Raph finally said as he headed back towards the apartment complex.

Leo didn’t look away from the road. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine. We don’ gotta.” Despite how harsh Raph sounded, Leo knew Raph was thankful he didn’t want to talk about it. “But there’s… something else.”

Leo sighed and rested his cheek on his fist. “There always is. Are you gonna talk to me about-”

“No. God, Leo, would you let me finish?” Raph gripped the wheel a bit tighter.

Leo shook his head but didn’t say anything more, closing his eyes and inviting Raph to continue.

“... look. I came here to ask for your help.”

“And you got it.”

“There’s more.”

Leo looked at him incredulously. “ _More_?!”

“Dad went on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days.”

“He does that all the time.”

“Well, somethin’ feels _off_ about this one.”

“If you came to me every time something felt off-”

“I’m serious, Leo. The…” He sighed. “The nest was a happy accident. I came here to ask for your help in findin’ dad.”

“And you didn’t think to mention that before?”

“I got distracted.”

Leo shook his head incredulously and looked out the window. Despite wanting to stay and go back to living the life he’d tried to create for himself… without Karai, it suddenly seemed useless. Futile.

What was the point in making himself happy if what he was avoiding was just going to take it away from him?

He sighed. “Fine. Do you have any leads?”

“Uh… no, I was… wonderin’ if you could help me with that.”

“Sure,” he murmured tiredly.

Raph glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before turning onto the surface street that would take them back to the apartment complex.

“... I’m sorry.”

He paused and looked at him. “... what?”

“I said I’m sorry,” Raph said, louder and more insistent.

“No, that-...” He trailed off. He’d heard Raph perfectly fine the first time, but it had been so _genuine_ , he wasn’t quite sure if he was imagining things.

“It wasn’t fair.”

He stared.

“That I had to do that- do _this_ \- to you. An’ everything you’d worked for.” He stopped in the parking lot and let go of the wheel, but Leo didn’t move to get out. “I know you won’t _tell_ me you’re mad, but I know you are.

“... so I’m sorry.”

Leo stared for a little while longer, watching as Raph’s entire body slowly tensed up before he suddenly killed the engine and got out of the car. “Come on. I’ll help you pack your stuff.”

Leo dumbly followed Raph back up to his apartment and pack his stuff into a few bags. He had to be in _some_ sort of shock. Everything was just a blur.

Raph stopped in the doorway, turning to Leo, who nearly ran into him. “Are you good?”

“It’s okay,” Leo blurted, and Raph stopped, staring.

Leo stepped back, looking down. “If… If things hadn’t gone as they did, I still would’ve… had the option to say no. It wasn’t your fault Karai got turned.”

Raph stared at him and Leo pursed his lips, keeping from adding a soft _‘it was mine’_ to the end of that. This was already more conversation than Raph wanted.

“... right. Well. Good to know. Now c’mon, before you get _any_ more sappy on me.”

Leo snorted and adjusted the strap to the duffel bag on his shoulder, shutting the lights off and closing the door as he left. He knew he was leaving everything- all that he’d worked for over the past year- in favor of what he’d been running from.

And it felt awful.


	5. Heads and Hooves, Part 1

Raph had managed to convince Leo to go with him back across the country towards New York, where one of Splinter’s primary storage units was. Raph had a hunch that if they were going to find anything, it would’ve been there. 

Raph and Leo had been born and raised in New York, until their mother had been killed in the victim end of a deal with a crossroads demon. The boys never found out who had wanted their mother dead so much, but Splinter had very quickly turned to hunting after that, taking the boys with them across the country as he worked. Splinter had never talked about their mother a whole lot, and Raph was kind of glad. Every time they’d asked, Splinter’s eyes would fill with hate and anger towards whoever had killed her. It was a look Raph could never unsee. 

He sighed, cutting off that train of thought before it sprialed too far. He pulled into a parking spot at the first motel he’d found in the town they were passing through, hoping there was vacancy. Judging by how few cars there were, there probably was. 

The receptionist seemed a bit annoyed by Raph coming in to check out a room so late at night, but he willingly took Raph’s money and gave him the key to a room. Taking the key, Raph went to go wake Leo.

The younger was laid out across the backseat of the car, a burlap tarp draped over himself to make up for the fact Raph had spent most of the ride with the AC blowing. Raph only felt a little guilty about it, and he opened the door at Leo’s head so he could nudge his shoulder. 

“Go sleep on an actual bed, idiot,” Raph grunted when Leo glared up at him groggily. He kicked off the tarp and managed to stumble to his feet, leaning against the door heavily. Raph watched him get himself reoriented with an amused smile. He followed Leo up to the motel room and unlocked the door, watching Leo stumble inside and fall face down on a bed.

“Not even gonna change out of your clothes or anything?” Raph asked teasingly, to which Leo responded with a middle finger. He laughed, shut and locked the door, and watched Leo drift back off on the bed. 

 

Raph found himself at a diner early the next morning. Leo was still asleep, and Raph was hungry, so he’d had to go get the food himself.

Damn his brother. 

He sat at the bar of the diner, picking up his fifth piece of bacon from off the plate that had been set in front of him and putting the end in his mouth so he could eat it as obnoxiously as possible. The action wasn’t as gratifying without Leo there giving him a dirty look for doing so.

“Haven’t seen you around here,” someone said as they sat down next to Raph. 

He pulled the piece of bacon out of his mouth so he could look at the guy with a frown. He looked like the kind of guy that would sell you tainted drugs in an alleyway behind the corner store. He had long brown hair that looked a bit tangled and not very well kept. His clothes were very clearly dirty, despite being black, and he seemed to radiate the aura of being a mysterious stranger. Not the kind of guy Raph wanted to be having an early morning chat with. 

“Just passin’ through,” he muttered pass the mouthful of bacon. 

“What’s got this town marked as a place worthy of stopping?”

Honestly, it was because this was where they’d been when Raph felt he was too tired to keep driving.

“Wasn’t the centaurs, was it?”

He choked on his bacon and had to beat a fist to his chest a little more violently than necessary to get it dislodged from his throat. “The  _ what _ ?”

Raph wasn’t actually quite sure what a centaur was- he had a few ideas flying around in his head- but it sounded like something supernatural, and this guy didn’t strike Raph as a hunter, or anyone who would have any clue about that kind of stuff. 

“Oh. So you didn’t hear.”

“Can’t say that I have,” Raph growled. This guy was starting to get on his nerves. 

“Some kid claims he saw a centaur in the forest. Town is going crazy about it.”

“... and you aren’t.”

He finally turned to look Raph in the eyes, and Raph stiffened. Making eye contact with this dude was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Do I look like someone who believes in fairytales?”

Raph didn’t answer, and he grunted before getting up and limping out of the establishment, muttering something about poor customer service. Raph was too busy focusing on his piece of bacon to notice Leo brushing past the man on his way in.

“Hey.” He sat down next to Raph, who had crammed the rest of the piece of the bacon.

“Hey,” he responded with his mouth full, and grinned at the disgusted look Leo gave him as he ordered a mug of coffee. 

“So did you hear about the-”

“Centaur sighting?” Raph interjected before swallowing. “Yeah, I did.”

“Do you think we should check it out?”

“Which ones are centaurs again.”

Leo paused in his talking to let out an exasperated sigh. “The horse ones, Raph.”

“So it could’a just been a guy on a horse.”

“I guess.”

“... yeah, we should check it out.”

“Where do you wanna start, then?”

Raph considered this. “We could try talkin’ to the kid.”

Leo snorted into his coffee. “You? Talking to a kid?”

“Hey, it’s more likely than you think.”

“Uh huh. And while you’re at it, why don’t you take them out for ice cream and let them nap in the back of your car?”

“It’s just askin’ them a couple’a questions! I’m not  _ babysitting _ ‘em!”

 

Turned out, Raph realized, that asking a kid a few questions and hoping to get a straight answer out of them is about just as difficult as babysitting them was. 

Leo and Raph had showed up at the house, Leo playing himself up to be a psychiatrist working alongside the FBI on a string of incidents similar to this one. The mother had graciously let them in, and as usual, it perturbed Raph that a member of the public trusted them so easily.

The kid- Cody- kept changing his answers, at first saying they were big and dark and scary, before saying that they were nice and they fed him some ‘nut salad’. Raph couldn’t keep track of anything, so he’d instead gone off to talk to the mom, Teresa.

“Does he usually have such an overactive imagination?” Raph asked, sitting at the kitchen table as he watched her move around the kitchen.

She sighed. “He always has, yes. Just… he’s never been so adamant about the thing being real before.” She set a glass of water in front of Raph before sitting down. “Usually he just spins these elaborate stories but this…”

“You think maybe it’s somethin’ more real than that?”

“I don’t really… believe in that kind of stuff.” She looked at her hands. “But it makes me think that maybe we should get him tested for… for schizophrenia or something.”

“Hallucinations, you think.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “He just shows no other symptoms of… of  _ anything _ , so I don’t know if I’m just being paranoid…”

Raph furrowed his brow, musing over the information. “Well, my partner will probably be able to come up with something after we talk. We’ll come to you if we find any reason that your son should go see a doctor, if it’ll make you feel better.”

“I… yeah.” She nodded. “If you can come up with anything from the questions…”

Raph shrugged, smiling. “I’m sure we’ll have something.”


	6. Heads and Hooves, Part 2

“I can’t find anything.”

“You _what_?”

Raph had left Leo to his own devices after talking to the family, assuming Leo was doing some constructive research.

But it was about eight at night and Raph was about to order second dinner when Leo slammed his laptop shut, threw his hands in the air, and looked a little like he was about to cry.

“I can’t find anything.”

“How.”

“Raph, you really think ‘centaurs’ as a search on local news is gonna bring up much of anything?”

“Did you look at the horse ridin’ population.”

“There is none.”

Raph opened his mouth, closed it, and nodded, not really having a response to that. “Alright.”

“So, I mean, he probably _did_ see a centaur. But I’m not finding anything on-”

“Did he say where he saw it?”

Leo wrinkled his nose. “Somewhere in a forest on a plot of land that belongs to an old kook.”

“His words?”

“More or less.”

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“I like his vocabulary.”

Leo scowled. “Did you eat my food?”

Raph paused, wondering how long he could go without answering before Leo made the conclusion that he just hadn’t ordered food.

He growled ever so slightly- Raph didn’t even know _how_ he managed to make such a noise- and got up, grabbing his jacket. “Stay here.”

“Why.”

“Because I don’t wanna lose you or something.”

“You act like I’m not responsible.”

Leo turned and glowered at him. Raph raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I ain’t movin’.”

Leo turned and left, and Raph listened for when the car engine drove off before getting up off the sitting area chair and sitting down at his computer. He opened it and typed in the password (Karai’s birthday, naturally), and looked at the webpage Leo had pulled up.

It wasn’t really anything interesting, nor out of the ordinary. They tended to have to go to the deep depths of the internet to find the information they needed that wasn’t warped by pop culture, so it was some sketchy wiccan site that was probably downloading a virus to Leo’s computer as Raph stared at it. Regardless, he read through the short article on centaurs, intrigued.

 

_Centaurs are creatures that are loyal in nature. When they find something to follow, they will typically follow it to the death, whether it be a deity or a leader of some sort. This undying loyalty can lead to issues between them and other races, and even other centaurs, if they run into another group that believes too passionately in something that goes against their belief. Historically, centaurs have studied texts from all over the world about all sorts of deities and religions, and this often leads to a blended belief system, where all the gods are real to centaurs. This was started to ensure war didn’t break out between different groups._

_Centaurs typically move in herds, following a leader. They are naturally peaceful creatures, priding themselves in their knowledge, but can become dangerous and violent if their beliefs are challenged. It’s best to avoid confrontation, and extensive disputes can be caused if small things upset any sort of balance._

 

Raph bit his lip, suddenly worried. Running on the assumption that there _was_ something on that property, it suddenly occurred to Raph that there was a chance the kid might’ve upset something.

Maybe they should go check it out.

Just in case.

He closed the laptop and pulled out his phone. Leo had taken the impala to get food, meaning he had all the weapons, besides the pistol tucked into Raph’s belt. It wouldn’t be enough against a horse-man, but it’d be enough to keep himself defended.

“I’m not getting you food,” was Leo’s immediate response when he picked up.

Raph snorted. “No, I’m not looking for food. Well…” He didn’t finish that near follow up. “Whose property was it that the kid said he saw the centaur on?”

“... why?” Leo countered hesitantly.

“I jus’... wanna check it out,” Raph said, adding an unseen shrug.

“... okay. Are you… _walking_ all the way there?”

“I was gonna. Are you offerin’ to get me?”

“... ugh.”

Raph smirked.

“I’ll be right there.”

 

If Raph were honest with himself, he really, truly, believed this was a bad idea.

He was still lagged from the drive the night previous and it made keeping his thoughts straight a challenge. On top of that, every single thing that moved set his nerves a little more on edge. As much as he wanted to be the brave one in this situation…

He was literally walking towards a giant pack of horses that may or may not be set to kill mode.

He shuddered at the thought and jumped when Leo set a hand on his shoulder, nearly accidentally firing his gun at nothing.

“Dude, you good?” Leo looked at him with a frown. In the shadowed dark, Raph could barely see it.

He let out a sigh. “Yeah, m’fine.”

“You seem a bit-”

“I said I’m _fine_.”

Raph jumped when a twig cracked behind them and whipped around, pointing his gun in the direction of the sound. Leo turned, suddenly visibly on edge, and Raph was a bit calmed by the similar reaction.

Thank _god_ he wasn’t going crazy.

There was another one, and a series of thumping footsteps behind Raph, and he turned and shot into the dark. He could hear the bullet hit the wood of a tree, missing its target. His heart was starting to speed up and it made his fingers feel light and numb.

He heard another pounding of footsteps and Leo aimed and shot at it. He, too, missed. There was a distant cry, almost like a war cry, that sent a shiver up Raph’s spine, and the brothers turned towards it, wide eyed.

“Maybe we should come back in the morning,” Leo murmured.

“Agreed,” Raph said with a nod, and they both turned and ran towards the edge of the property.

Raph could hear footsteps quickly approaching- several sets of them- and he was faintly aware of the ground shaking under his feet as he flew through the trees back towards where the impala had been parked. He didn’t dare cast a glance over his shoulder to see what was pursuing them-

-until Leo suddenly disappeared from beside Raph, and he skidded to a stop, looking back in alarm.

Leo had been shot in the shoulder by something, and he was trying to push himself back to his feet as he pulled the shaft of what Raph could only assume was an arrow out of his shoulder. He managed to get to his knees before falling to his side with a soft thump.

Panicked, Raph ran back to crouch by Leo’s side, trying to pick him up in a way that would let Raph carry him back down the rest of the way. Before he could get his arms under Leo in a comfortable position, a sharp pain shot through his arm and he fell back to the ground with the force of the blow. An arrow, identical to the one that now lay in Leo’s hand, pierced Raph’s skin, right below the collar bone.

And it hurt like a _bitch_ , but somehow, even with pain coursing through Raph’s body, he felt groggy, like he was finally taking a moment to catch up on the sleep he’d missed the previous night.

He sighed and let his head fall back, closing his eyes and letting the sweet release of sleep embrace him. After all, a little nap couldn’t hurt.


	7. Heads and Hooves, Part 3

The first thing Raph thought when he came to was that he was in pain.

A  _ lot _ of pain. 

He groaned and reached up to press his hand to his shoulder. Touching it too hard caused pain to shoot through his body and make spots dance in his vision, so he just rested his hand on it and slowly worked up the courage to open his eyes.

When he did, he realized he was laying he was on his back, staring up at the gray morning light that was coming in through the canopy of a forest.

That’s strange.

He managed to prop himself up on his good elbow to look around. He was, in fact, in a forest. That he was certain of. There was a dead fire in front of him, having long been put out, judging by the lack of smoke or still smoldering embers. Raph himself was laid out on some sort of makeshift hay pallet, with a canvas blanket and everything. To his right was a similar pallet, although it was empty. 

White bandages were wrapped tightly around his aching shoulder, and he poked at them curiously. Leo’s handiwork wasn’t as good as this and he had no recollection of doing it himself. 

He closed his eyes and laid back with a sigh. He was still groggy and his head kind of hurt. He wondered how long he could lay there before being told off by Leo. 

He heard footsteps approach where he was lying and opened his eyes, expecting to see Leo.

Leo was not what he saw. 

He scrambled up into a sitting position, adrenaline neutralizing the pain in his arm, when he saw the man from the diner the previous morning. He looked… dirtier, somehow, and Raph was made extremely uncomfortable simply by his presence.

“Good,” he grunted. “You’re awake.”

“What the hell-”

“I can’t believe you thought it was a good idea to wander into the forest in the middle of the night.”

Raph narrowed his eyes. “Did  _ you _ bandage my arm?”

“No.” He turned away, back in the direction he’d came. “My…. friend did.”

“Can I  _ meet _ this friend?”

“Well sure, if you stop asking so many damn questions.”

Raph almost wanted to ask one more question, just to spite him, but the guy didn’t seem like the kind of person to take a joke, so he stayed quiet. He pushed himself to his feet and followed him into the trees, glancing for a moment back at the makeshift camp they were abandoning. 

“Uh… where exactly are we going? ‘Cause at the moment it just seems like you’re takin’ me out into the forest to kill me.”

“If we wanted to kill you, we would’ve done it last night,” he said coldly.

“We?” Raph asked, but he didn’t get the time to answer.

The trees gave way at an abrupt stop into a clearing. It wasn’t clear, perse, considering the movement that was going on, and it looked a bit like war troops were tearing down a camp to move to the next location. 

Except they weren’t human troops. It was a bunch of centaurs.

Raph felt faint. 

In the center of the clearing, amidst all the chaos and talking, Leo was sitting next to a fresh fire, hands wrapped around a mug of something. He appeared to be talking to a large centaur- although from this distance they all looked obscenely huge- that was dressed in a headpiece and some shawls.

“Watch your step,” the guy grumbled as he started walking to where Leo was seated. Raph had to consciously shut his jaw before following. For once, he didn’t want to be rude.

Leo looked up when the two approached, and perked a bit at the sight of Raph. “Good to see you finally awake.”

“Shut up,” Raph grumbled, plopping down on the blanket Leo was seated on with a huff. 

“This is your brother?” The centaur asked in a deep, booming voice, and Leo nodded, sipping his mug. Raph looked up as the centaur looked at him with a smile. He was handsome, Raph hated to admit. He had light brown hair that looked bleached by hours under the sun, and it fell down around his sharp jawline. He had bright blue eyes, like the sky. “It’s nice to meet you, Raphael. I’m Belen.”

Raph nodded towards him. “Nice ta meet you.”

“I apologize about your shoulder.”

He paused and glanced at the bandage handiwork before looking back at the centaur. “You the one who shot us?”

“My archers, at least.” He gestured to where a cluster of centaurs were shooting arrows at trees. “It was rude of us to act violently before meeting you, though.”

Raph paused to run the conversation over in his head. “... so you’re not going to attack the town?”

Belen frowned, and Leo let out a sigh, resting the mug on the ground. “When we were doing our research after being told about your possible presence here, the biggest thing I could find was the fact that if you guys are disturbed somehow, you’re more likely to shoot first and ask questions later.”

“An’ we didn’t want an entire town gettin’ wiped off the map ‘cause some kid didn’t know how to mind his own damn business,” Raph added. 

Belen nodded slowly. “Those are some… old texts you were consulting, then.”

Raph looked up at Belen away from the grass under them. “So what’s changed?”

“Well, if you look at the difference between our culture and the culture of the modern day human…” Belen gestured to the camp. “There’s a pretty big disconnection. Even if we wanted to cause conflict, we’d be wiped out in an instant.

“On top of that, since humans have become more prevalent on earth than the mythical creatures we’re accustomed to disagreeing with, we’ve had to find ways to stay more under the radar. Hence…” He waved his hand towards the man in the grimy jacket.

“An ambassador,” Leo filled in when Raph looked confused.

“Sort of,” the man grunted. Something clicked in Raph’s head, and suddenly the man’s ragged appearance made sense. He’s been living with a bunch of horse-people for who knew how long. He wouldn’t look like the cleanest human being in the world. 

Belen nodded. “So… things have changed since those days. Mostly an adjustment in your culture that makes clashes like that difficult.”

“Why were you looking at sources like that anyway?” The man challenged. “I can understand some kid stumbling across the camp, but two adults that know where to draw the line between real and fake?”

Leo wrinkled his nose, but Raph interjected before Leo could stop him. “We’re hunters.”

Belen stiffened and the man growled. “Should’ve known you were-”

“But we weren’t looking for you,” Leo interjected quickly. “We were just passing through and we happened to hear a rumor that worried us. It’s our job to keep people safe. All we wanted to do was ensure that the town would, in fact, stay safe.”

The man didn’t like this answer, but Belen nodded slowly. “I see… so you don’t have anymore hunters following you?”

“We’re pretty disconnected from the whole community,” Raph murmured. “What with dad bein’ missin’ and all.”

Belen seemed to consider this. “I assume you’re passing through on your search for him?”

Leo nodded slowly. “But besides checking the last permanent residence he had, we don’t really have any leads.”

“My apologies.”

Raph shrugged. “It’s not the first time he’s gone missing, he just usually  _ calls _ or something.”

Belen nodded. “Well, usually, when we’ve lost our path or something important to us, we tend to turn to the heavens for guidance.”

Raph wrinkled his nose up. “...  _ what. _ ”

“Sir,” a centaur said, trotting up to the group. “We’re ready to set off.”

“If we want to hit the next town before sundown, we should get going,” the man added.

Belen nodded and rose to his hooves, bowing his head to Leo and Raph. “We thank you for your visit, although it got off to a rocky start…”

The new centaur snorted.

“And we wish you luck in finding your father.”

Leo nodded and rose to his feet. “It was nice to meet you Belen.”

Belen nodded and smiled, and Raph had to pointedly look away from how warm and appreciative the expression was. “Yeah. Thanks,” Raph said gruffly before following Leo out of the forest and back to town at the direction of the man (he just kind of pointed vaguely in some direction, but it was better than nothing, so they took it).


	8. Sent From Above, Part 1

When they got back to the motel near noon, Leo sat down to unwrap the bandages and inspect the arrow holes in their shoulders. They had been well cleaned and treated- although it had done with natural remedies, which seemed to make Raph uncomfortable- so Leo just wrapped them back up and let the herbs do their work.

“We’ll wait until tomorrow to start drivin’ again,” Raph said as he laid back on his bed.

Leo looked over, somewhat surprised. “Wait, really?”

Raph looked at him. “What, you wanna start drivin’ now?”

He shrugged and looked back down at the duffel bag he was packing. “I dunno, you just seemed… really adamant about getting to New York as soon as possible.”

Raph didn’t respond at first, and Leo thought he might’ve fallen asleep, until he spoke.

“Honestly, yeah. I do wanna get ta New York. For various reasons, not just findin’ dad.” Raph looked away, although the homesickness still crept into his voice. Leo felt a pang of sympathy in his chest. “But I’m enjoyin’ being on the road.”

“With _me_?”

“Yeah?” He snorted. “Why does that sound so crazy? You’re my brother.”

“That left the family.”

“Yeah.”

“Tried to quit the business.”

“Yup.”

“And pitched a fit when you came to get me.”

“Sounds exactly like something a Winchester would do.”

Leo opened his mouth, closed it, and looked down. As much as he wanted to come up with an argument, he couldn’t.

For once, Raph was right. It _did_ sound exactly like something a Winchester would do.

He sighed and sat on the end of the bed.

“Are you not likin’ it?”

Alarm struck Leo right in the chest. To be honest… so far, no, he didn’t like it. He missed his apartment. He missed Karai. Hell, even a bit, he missed college. It wasn’t that he didn’t entirely _hate_ being on the road, or being with Raph. It just… wasn’t where he’d imagined himself. Even when he was a kid, he’d imagined being a regular adult, with a home, and a family. Kids. A job that actually paid.

“No, it’s fine. I mean… it’s _different_. I’m not used to it yet. But it’s fine.”

He could feel Raph staring at him, and he didn’t look up from the carpet. He noticed a funny brown stain that was half tucked under the bed. He sometimes forget how dirty these carpets were.

“‘Lright,” Raph finally agreed, and Leo’s shoulders relaxed. He pushed his duffel bag off the bed and onto the floor before laying back on the bed.

After a moment of silence Raph sat back up. “I’m gonna go pick up food. You want anythin’?”

Leo looked at him. “No matter what I say, you’re still just gonna get me a burger.”

He laughed and got up. “You’re right. I won’t ask next time.”

“Just leave relish off of it this time, would you?”

“Aw, c’mon Leo, relish is the best part!”

“Maybe to you!” Leo called as Raph closed the door to the motel room. He smiled a bit before it slipped off his face and he looked back up at the ceiling. He let his eyes drift close, and took a deep breath.

“Hey, God,” he muttered, furrowing his brow as he tried to formulate how he was going to go about this.

“I’m… sorry about lying to Raph like that. I don’t want to hurt his feelings. I like being with my family and all, so it wasn’t a total lie, honest. It’s just…

“Hunting was never my calling. I don’t want to spend my life killing things only to get nothing in return. It seems unfair. And it’s… not fulfilling to me. I’d much rather save people the way that people are meant to be saved. I want to be on the end of things that involves just saving them. Not having to kill every time I want to do it.

“I know the world I would be going back to wouldn’t be the same. Not without Karai. It’ll never be the same without her… but I want to go back.

“I was just wondering… maybe… could you help move things along? I’m hoping… maybe the sooner we find dad, the sooner Raph will let me get back to school. So I can go back to saving people in a way they’ll actually appreciate it. Not by killing stuff and sometimes having to lie to them about what happened.

“I know normal isn’t the same for all people, but… _anything_ would be normal than this. I just want something… normal.

“Please.”

He opened his eyes and looked up at the blank ceiling. Even though he knew very well that things wouldn’t happen instantaneously, it was a bit disappointing to open his eyes and find things the same.

He sighed and rolled onto his side, curling up on the bed. When he heard the impala’s engine die, he quickly sat up. He just had to pretend for… a couple months.

He could do that.

It would be fine.

 

It was raining when Leo woke up after falling asleep that night. He was sprawled out in an awkward position on the bed, one arm stretched above his head. He’d left it that way for too long so now it hurt as he slowly pulled it back in towards himself. There was a light but no thunder outside, so he wasn’t quite sure why he was awake, other than maybe a car engine kicking into gear. The light faded and he turned his gaze away from the window. A glance at the glowing alarm clock on the nightstand told him it was 12:01.

He was about to roll over and go back to sleep when there was a knock on the door loud enough to jerk Raph awake. It got Leo to sit up, and the ginger growled, rubbing his eyes.

“Who the hell is at the door at this hour?” He grumbled, stretching.

“No clue…” Leo murmured, getting to his feet to go check. It was raining outside, so it probably was someone just looking to get in from the cold. The least they could do was offer them a jacket, or something.

He unlocked the door and opened it to see a much taller figure than himself standing in the doorway. The person wasn’t _overly_ tall, but Leo was a bit on the shorter end, so he stood a few solid inches taller than him.

His eyes were a deep murky brown that seemed both troubled and emotionless all at the same time as he stared at Leo, slowly becoming drenched in the rain. He was dressed in nothing but a white undershirt, a purple sweater vest, and a pair of khaki pants. He must’ve been freezing, and yet, it looked like he was only just starting to grow wet from the rain. How long had it been raining?

“Greetings, Leonardo,” the figure greeted, and Leo’s heart skipped a beat.

Leo shifted uncomfortably, glancing around the motel compound. There weren’t any new cars in the port, but his shoes looked strangely new and dressy to justify walking in the rain. The stranger was just full of anomalies.

“Uh… h-how do you know my name?” Leo asked warily, finally looking back into the brown eyes that hadn’t left him since he’d opened the door.

“My name is Donatello,” he stated, not answering Leo’s question.

“I’m an angel of the Lord.”


	9. Sent From Above, Part 2

Leo stood across the motel room, watching as Raph passed in front of Donatello. The person- angel, whatever- didn’t seem to realize how tense the air was, instead watching Raph pace with unwavering emotionlessness. 

“God doesn’t exist,” Raph said, turning on Donatello and pointing at him angrily.

“Yes he does,” he argued with one firm nod.

“Have you seen ‘im?”

A pause.

“Talked to ‘im?”

“I hear him-”

“Hear him? Great.” Raph threw his hands in the air, turning on Leo. “A goddamn schizo showed up on our doorstep.”

“Well, wait, Raph,” Leo started, finally turning towards Raph. He didn’t want to have hope that someone had heard his prayers, but it was hard to resist the light feeling in his chest that hope gave him. He kind of liked it. “Let’s hear him out.”

“Yes Raphael,” he said with a slow frown. “I think I have things you would like to know about.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

Donatello frowned. “I was able to find you through the prayers you were sending.”

Raph stiffened, and Leo’s blood ran cold.

“Angels are trained to respond to people’s prayers. So I came to answer yours.”

“Oh yeah? An’ what were they askin’ for?” Raph said challengingly. Leo watched his hands clench, and he stood, angry and unwavering as he waited for a response.

“I don’t think we need to discuss this-” Leo started, looking away from the angry glare his brother was giving him.

“He has been asking- for a while now, actually… for a quick way out of this.”

“Outta what?”

“Hunting with you?”

The room fell silent. Donatello was unaffected, although his gaze flicked between Leo and Raph slowly.

“You said-” Raph started.

“You don’t understand-” Leo interjected.

“You were  _ fine _ -”

“I didn’t want to  _ hurt _ you-”

“Oh yeah?!” Raph snapped, voice growing in volume. “Then what’s this?” He gestured to Donatello. “A call for fucking  _ help _ ?!”

“You’ve never had the life I’ve had to live, Raph!” Leo shouted back, and Raph growled, determined to make sure he had the last word.

“Yeah, Leo, I had it worse! But you still-”

“ _ No you fucking didn’t _ !”

Raph paused, unused to this raw, unbridled emotion from his little brother. Leo could feel dangerous little tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, but Lord be damned if he wasn’t going to get through this.

“You were always Dad’s favorite.” Leo stepped forward, pointing at him accusingly. “Dad took you everywhere. Dad taught you all the ins and outs of his precious  _ fucking _ impala.”

“He wanted to protect you-” Raph started desperately, but Leo was quick to cut him off.

“For all my childhood, one of the few good dreams I had was of being just like you and Dad,” he growled, now standing in front of Raph and just a smidge taller than him. “Being a great hunter, saving people, you know, the family business.”

“You were young-”

“You were introduced  _ years _ younger than I was.”

Raph bit his lip, looking between Leo’s blazing eyes. 

“It took me years to get over the fantasy that I would follow in your footsteps.” He stepped back. “So I tried to fall back on something that I thought seemed reasonable.”

“I said I was sorry-”

“I know, Raph.” He looked away, folding his arms. “But that doesn’t make me any less  _ angry _ .”

He didn’t notice Raph bristle. “I was tryin’ ta be nice about it, Leo. Sympathetic, even, because I know what it’s like to be ripped out of the life you knew to go to the country’s end for some stupid fucking monster.

“And yet, when I show you an ounce of kindness- which, apparently, accordin’ ta you, you were never showed as a kid- you go  _ behind my back _ and pray for it to be over? For it to end when it’s barely fuckin’ begun?”

“I can help,” Donatello offered, but his voice was drowned out by Raph’s ceaseless waves of anger.

“You were spoiled, Leo.”

“ _ I _ was spoiled?!” Leo cried incredulously, turning on him.

“I never said I wanted this life!”

“So you sabotaged mine because you were jealous?”

He didn’t realize Raph’s fist coming at him before it was too late. He stumbled back, reeling, and clutched his nose. He could feel blood on his hand before he realized it hurt enough for it to bleed. 

Raph turned and stormed out of the motel room, slamming the door behind him and driving off into the pouring rain. Leo stumbled into the bathroom and gripped the sides of the sink with his hands, watching blood flow out of his nose and drip down into the sink. He stared at himself, musing over the conversation, before bowing his head and finally letting a few tears leak out of his eyes. 

This was dumb.

“Leonardo,” someone spoke from the doorway and he looked around in alarm, pressing his hand to his nose to keep from dripping blood on the floor. Donatello looked at him, a slight crease forming between his eyebrows. “Do you need… assistance?”

Leo stared at him before letting out a breath. In his head it was an attempt at a laugh, but it just sounded more like a tired sigh. “Nah, it’s fine.” He turned back to the sink. “I’ve gotten bloody noses before. It’ll go away soon enough.”

Despite Leo’s protest, Donatello moved into the room and placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder. It was hesitant, Leo noticed, like the angel wasn’t quite sure touching people was an okay thing to do. When Leo didn’t flinch or anything, he turned Leo a bit forcefully to face him. 

“What’re you-” Leo started, watching as Donatello raised two fingers and pressed them to the bridge of his nose. They glowed a white light, similar to the one that had showed up outside the window before the angel had knocked on the door. He could feel the injury start to heal over before there was a noticeable change. It made Leo feel kind of dizzy. 

The light faded and he lowered his hand. “That better?”

Leo turned and looked at himself in the mirror. The bruising that had started forming was gone, leaving behind blood drying on his face.

“Y… yeah, actually. Thanks…” He looked at Donatello, who just nodded.

“So do you still want my help?”

Leo glanced at the front door of the motel, briefly replaying the way Raph so angrily slammed it. He looked back into the sink and held back tears, no matter how much it burned. 

“Yeah.” He reached over and grabbed a towel off the shelf above the toilet. “Just... “ He nodded. “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're keeping track,  
> Raph = Dean  
> Leo = Sam  
> Karai = Jess  
> Donnie = Castiel


	10. From Below, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of foreplay and other sexual topics. Viewer discretion is advised.

Raph scowled at the road as he sped through the town faster than he should have. His blood was still boiling, and his hand kind of hurt from punching Leo in the nose. He wasn’t sure if he felt guilty or not, but he was all about avoiding that train of thought in favor of being angry.

Leo had agreed to come with him on this. Had things been different if Karai hadn’t been turned? Yeah, maybe, but that wasn’t the point! This was their  _ dad _ on the line. He didn’t understand how Leo couldn’t want to put in effort to find him. All he wanted was for this to be over.

He slammed a fist against the edge of the steering wheel, and grimaced when he realized how much that hurt. Turning into the parking lot of a bar that looked like it was still open this late at night, he parked, killed the engine, and sat back in his seat.

He just didn’t get it. Why couldn’t Leo just appreciate being on a trip with him?

He jumped when there was a tapping noise on the door, and looked up to see the blurry figure of a girl standing on the other side of the rain streaked window.

He frowned and opened the door, looking up at her. Blonde curls framed her tan face, and she was holding a hand above her head to keep the rain from ruining the heavy makeup she had on. A wet black jacket was zipped up tightly around her body, but her legs were exposed. She looked like she might’ve been shivering.

“Are you alright?” She asked, having to raise her voice above the rain landing on his car. “You look a little-”

He waved his hand to quiet her and got up, slamming the car door shut behind himself. “M’fine… Are you?”

She blinked and looked down at herself. She looked like she’d been walking in the rain a while, which, in those heels, must’ve been painful. “Ah, just a bit cold.”

He frowned and jerked his head towards the establishment. “Lemme buy you a drink.”

She smiled and nodded, and let him wrap an arm around her shoulders as he guided her in. 

“So,” he said once he’d down a couple shots of whiskey and she’d made headway into a margarita. “You live ‘round here?”

“Uh huh.” She stirred one of her painted fingernails around in her drink lazily. She’d taken her wet jacket off and let it dry on one of the other bar stools. She was wearing a hot pink tank top that hugged her body a little too tightly for Raph’s comfort. It looked like she had some sort of tattoo on her collar bone, but her hair kept falling in front of it so he couldn’t get a good look. “I’ve always wanted to travel away from here but it’s  _ suuuper _ expensive to live much of anywhere else.” Her voice was high pitched and sweet in kind of a gross way. She gave Raph similar vibes to the centaur guy.

“Seems pretty boring to be stayin’ here though,” he commented as he motioned for the bartender to get him another shot.

“Well, sure, ‘cause nothing ever really happens.” She sipped from the drink. “I do like the stupid headlines though. ‘Centaur spotted on old man’s plot of land’. Like, c’mon, who do the reporters think they’re kidding?”

He snorted, watching the amber liquid in the shot glass in front of him. “Yeah…”

She looked at him. “So why’re you out here so late at night?”

He glanced at her. “I could ask you the same thing.”

She pouted. “My DD got blackout drunk at a party and I had to walk home.”

“So you decided to stop here and get drunk with me instead?”

“Hey, you don’t see me judging you for your life choices?”

He snorted and tossed the alcohol back, relishing in the burn for a moment. She leaned forward onto the bar, making Raph acutely aware of how all her…  _ accessories _ fell. “So what’s your tall tale of woe?”

He looked away from her and shook his head. “I, uh… my brother’n I are passing through on our way ta New York, and we kinda got into a fight.”

“Are you just driving off without him?”

He paused. “... I was considerin’ it.”

“That’s kind of mean.”

“Yeah, well, he deserves it,” he growled, the anger coming back and swelling through his veins. “After  _ all _ I’ve done for him, he still wants this road trip ta end as soon as possible so he can go back to his sissy medical school.”

She reached over and patted his back, rubbing the pads of her fingers into his stuff muscles. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you so mad.”

He sighed and relaxed under the touch, watching her get off the bar stool and continue to push against his back. “S’alright. Happens a lot.”

She hummed and leaned around one side, hugging his arm. “You seem pretty ferocious when you’re angry,” she murmured, pressing up against him.

He clenched a fist, watching her warily. “Yeah?”

“Well, I was just thinking,” she mused, picking at her lower lip with one of her fingernails. “Maybe I could help you work off some of that anger.”

He narrowed his eyes. “How?”

She beamed at his curiosity and tugged him off the chair, pulling a few bills out of her cleavage and placing it on the counter. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

He was wary, but just tipsy enough to  _ somehow _ decide it was a good idea, and slid off the chair to follow her. Neither of them turned back to grab her jacket.

The rain had let up by the time they left the bar. She pulled him to his car and opened the door to the backseat, smiling at him. “You first.”

He frowned at her as he slid into the backseat of the car, and she slid in after him, closing the door. She pushed him back to the seat and his eyes widened, his mind finally registering what was going on.

She sat down on top of him and ground her ass against his crotch, rubbing her hands along her boobs. She pushed her hair away from her face, letting it fall down her back, and he could finally see that the tattoo on her collar bone was a pentagram with a small black heart in the center. 

This set off a red flag Raph wasn’t quite aware of and he tried to sit up, but she quickly pushed him back down, blue eyes bright like crystals. They almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the car.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, voice soft and sultry. “Afraid?”

“I don’t really do this whole sex thing, doll.”

A hungry look crossed over her face and she leaned close towards him. His gaze flickered to her lips before looking back up at her eyes. “You mean you’re a virgin?”

He scowled, unsure of how she came to that conclusion. “I am a grown ass man. That isn’t interested in sex.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to push her off of him, but she was holding onto the seats a little too hard.

Her hungry looked turn dangerously sour quicker than he realized, and her blue eyes turned black. “We’ll see about that,” she hissed.

He stiffened as the faint smell of sulfur permeated the car.

_ This was bad. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fifth of the way through, bitches!


	11. From Below, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Use of the word "rape" to describe a situation. No rape actually takes place, but I feel like I should mention it.  
> Also, I'm doing my best in writing an asexual character. Please don't get mad at me if I misrepresent.

There was a very,  _ very _ small number of things Raph would ever feel the need to call Leo for help for. One of them was the rare occasion where Raph was literally about to die at the hands of a monster. One of them was if their dad went missing in such a way that made Raph lose sleep from how sick to his stomach he was.

One of them, that he’d never really thought would happen until now, was when he was literally about to be raped by a sex-crazed demon.

Not that the sex part was out of the ordinary- he’d found it was far too easy for him to end up in bed with people and not feel sexually attracted to them. Leo called it being asexual, or something…? Whatever. 

That wasn’t important right now. What was important was the fact that the girl on top of him was attached by the lips to his neck and she was moving her hands dangerously close to the waistline of his jeans. She had her hands pinned above his head, but with one hand distracted, she wasn’t as strong against him as she could’ve been.

He twisted under her and bit at her underarm, digging his teeth as deep as he could into the skin. She yelped and let go of his hands, and he used them to dig the heels of his palms into her eyes and push her head up towards the roof of the car. She shrieked and clawed at him blindly, narrowly missing clawing through his eyes. 

He got a knee on her stomach and pushed her body up with her, getting her mostly off of him. He managed to let go of her face just enough to grab his phone from the center console before she suddenly grabbed his shirt, lifted his torso up off the seat, and slammed him back with a strong enough force to knock the air out of him. 

He gasped, digging his knee further into her stomach, and fumbled with his phone until he found Leo’s contact number.

He hissed when she finally dragged her claws across his cheek and he grabbed her arm, twisting it until she screamed.

“Hello?” Leo asked, his voice sounding a bit shaky. Some emotion sparked in Raph’s stomach, but he didn’t have time to figure it out.

“Hey. Uh… you know that thing that I have where I end up in bed with people I’m not attracted to?”

There was a pause as he moved his hand to the demon’s throat and slammed her head against the roof of the car again to try and get her to quit struggling. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, so uh, I kinda had that problem again-”

“You’ve been gone for thirty minutes-”

“- but this one’s a demon.”

“What?!”

She dug her claws into Raph’s sides and he could feel her nails piercing the fabric of his shirt and draw blood from the weak skin. He writhed and kicked at her. “Could you come help?!”

There wasn’t a response, but suddenly, the door behind Raph’s head opened, and Leo dragged him out of the car. Raph watched as the demon suddenly froze, and was dragged out of the car by Donatello, who’d opened the other door to get her out. 

Raph growled as he scrambled to his feet and away from Leo, pressing a hand to where blood was staining his shirt. “Why’s he still here,” he growled.

Leo looked at him, confused. “He  _ literally _ just helped save you-”

“You know what, I don’t care.”

He ignored Leo’s exasperated sigh as he walked around the car to where Donatello was holding the girl still. At least, that’s what Raph assumed. She was on her knees by the car, being held down by an invisible force while the angel kept his hand extended towards her. Raph pushed away the thought of how good a weapon he could be. That wasn’t important. 

“Do you want me to kill her?” Donatello asked.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said lowly, and Raph narrowed his eyes at her.

“Oh yeah? And why not?”

She looked up at him, the black film over her eyes again. Now that Raph had a second chance to look, they appeared to be tinted pink at the edges. “Aren’t you looking for your daddy?”

Leo and Raph both stiffened and Raph scowled. “How do you know about that?”

“Oh, it’s the  _ biiiig _ talk all over hell. No clue why though.” She seemed to consider it before gasping. “You know what. I bet Luci could tell you.”

“Lucifer?” Donatello asked with a deep set frown. 

She turned to look at him with a smile. “Sure thing, angel boy. But it would take a trick and a half to get all three of you to Hell to talk to him.”

“Like what?” Raph asked, feeling hopeful. Stupid, he knew, but he couldn’t help it.

She hummed, considering the question. “Well, I bet a crossroads demon could tell you. But unfortunately, I don’t know the spell.” She shrugged. “You’ll have to find that on your own.”

“And why should we believe you?” Leo interjected. “What makes you a credible source?”

“Darling,” she cooed. “You do realize succubi like myself are well sought after, right? We’re pretty popular with the higher ups, if you know what I mean,” she said with a wink. 

Leo’s face twisted into a look of disgust. “Gank her.”

Her eyes widened. “W-wait! I gave you all the information you need!”

Raph crouched down so he was on eye level with her. “One good act doesn’t make you a good person.”

She snarled and nearly lunged towards him before Donatello’s eyes lit up white and she froze, a red-pink light looking like it lit her insides on fire, before her host fell limp to the floor, dead.

Raph stood up and Leo moved forward to drag her body off towards the bushes, away from direct view. Raph watched, frowning. 

“She’ll probably be found in the morning,” Leo said. “So we should get going.”

Raph jerked his thumb towards where Donatello was staring at where Leo had hid the body. “What about him.”

Leo glanced at the angel before looking back at Raph. “He’s coming?”

“What?” Raph cried incredulously. “Why?”

“He’s useful, Raph. And… it’s a usefulness that goes beyond my selfish desires.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “He was the reason I was able to get you here so fast. And you saw how easily he was able to kill that demon. He’s a useful asset.”

“So that’s all he is to us? An asset?”

Leo shook his head. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“What wouldn’t I get?” Raph turned as he watched Leo sit in the passenger seat. “What am I not getting here, Leo?”

Donatello turned to look at him. “Haven’t you learned that yelling doesn’t get you anywhere?”

Raph opened his mouth, floundering for a moment, before slamming his jaw shut. 

Donatello slid into the back seat and Raph sat down in the front seat heavily, reaching up to adjust the rearview mirror so he could keep an eye on the angel as they moved.

“Donatello, do you know how to summon a crossroads demon?”

He looked at the back of Raph’s head. “I have an idea,” he said with a nod. “And it’s fine if you call me Donnie.”

Raph frowned at the nickname and glanced at Leo, who looked back.

“There’s a rural town a couple states over that would probably be the best place to do a summoning. And it’s on our way up to New York, if that’s still our end goal.”

Raph regarded Leo, before nodding and putting the key into the ignition. “Alright.

“Lead on, then.”


	12. From Below, Part 3

“Graveyard dirt?” Raph said in disgust.

“And the bone of a black cat,” Leo added, nodding slowly. “How specific.”

“The spell is relatively simple,” Donnie stated, sitting on the end of the bed in the motel room. 

The three had taken refuge in a dingy motel on the outskirts of the rural town Leo had directed them to. It was rural enough it didn’t have a good fast burger joint, just a small family-owned dine in. Raph wasn’t pleased, but he couldn’t deny that the food was good, so he settled and held back his grumbling in favor of getting the job done. They’d spent the day sleeping in preparation for the summoning they’d be performing that night. 

“Simple,” Raph said with a nod, before scowling. “If you have steady access to ‘graveyard dirt’ and ‘black cat bones’.”

“Did you check the back of the car?” Leo looked at him.

Raph paused. “... I’m pretty sure we don’t have either of those things.”

“Fine.” Leo picked his laptop up off the table. “I’ll see if there’s a graveyard nearby. You find the cat bones.”

“Why do I get the harder job?” Raph protested.

“Because I can’t trust you won’t spend your time on a laptop looking up porn.”

Raph opened his mouth, shut it, and turned to go find a black cat, just missing Donnie asking, “what is... porn?”

 

As it turned out, Leo had been right. They did have a small stash of black cat bones buried in the depths of the trunk of the car. Leo wanted to raise questions as to  _ why _ they had black cat bones in the car, but Raph didn’t let him. 

“We’re looking for Dad,” he growled as he took a tin from Donnie. “Not questioning his morals.”

Leo scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets. Raph took a bone out of the plastic bag they’d found and put it in the tin. 

“Graveyard dirt?” He looked at Leo, holding out his hand. Leo placed another plastic bag in it, and Raph poured some of the dirt into the tin. 

Donnie watched with a blank expression. “And a picture of whoever is making a deal.”

“Wait, making a deal?” Raph paused, looking at Donnie.

“Yes, that is how a crossroads summoning works.” Donnie nodded. “You ask for something in return for your soul.”

Leo exchanged a glance with Raph before the elder fished a pocket of himself and put it into the box.

“Wait a minute.” Leo set a hand over Raph’s. “Let’s think about this-”

“I already have,” Raph said, closing the tin. “I wanna find Dad more’n you do, so I’ll offer up my soul. And then you can go back to your degree.”

“No.” Leo grabbed Raph’s shoulder. “Look, we have that rug in the back with the devil’s trap, right?”

“If they can see it-” Donnie tried to argue.

Raph paused and nodded.

“We can put it over where we put the box down and get the demon to tell us what we want to know without having to make a deal.”

Raph nodded, more vigorously this time. “Go get the rug.”

He buried the tin in the center of the crossroads. Leo brushed past Donnie with the devil’s trap rug, not noticing Donnie’s troubled look.

The two stepped back and watched the devil’s trap with a frown. Donnie shifted uncomfortably.

With a gush of air and a blink of the eye, a figure appeared in the devil’s trap, looking down at the handiwork in curiosity. He was smaller than even Raph, and had a messy mop of bright blonde hair falling in his eyes. He wasn’t wearing anything formal- just a white and orange shirt and cargo shorts. He was an adult dressed in teenager’s clothing.

He eventually looked up at them with a grin, still bent at the waist. “Hiya Winchesters.”

Raph scowled. “Why does everyone know our names?”

“Oh, you’re pretty popular among the supernatural community,” the demon said cheerfully. “Considering all the work your dad has done, and his dad before him… you know, the family business?”

Leo stiffened a bit when his blue eyed gaze fell on him knowingly.

“But, of course, you didn’t summon me here to talk to you about your ancestor’s poor life choices, did you? You came to ask for help about your poor daddy.”

Raph narrowed his eyes. “You’re talkin’ like you already know something.”

“Oh I know lots of things.” He straightened, looking at his fingernails. “As head macho of the crossroad demons, it’s kinda my job to know everything.”

“Everything?” Leo asked with a raised brow.

Raph elbowed him in the side. “We don’t have time for your stupid mind games.”

“Aww,” the demon whined, pouting. “I didn’t think Raphie would be the one to be so goal oriented.”

Raph growled. “Enough talking. You, demon-“

“Me?” He asked innocently.

“- are going to tell us the information we want to know  _ without _ making a deal,” he said lowly. “Or our friend is going to kill you.”

Leo and Raph stepped aside, and Donnie stiffened.

“Ah,” the demon breathed. “Donatello.”

Donnie nodded to him slowly. “Michelangelo.”

He straightened and looked at Raph. “You’ve picked yourself a very nice angel partner.”

“You two know each other?” Leo frowned.

“We know of each other,” Donatello said.

“Of course, the high rankings in one realm obviously know  _ of _ the high rankings in the other,” Michelangelo said. “That doesn’t mean they’ve ever met face to face.”

Raph glanced at Donatello. “You’re a high rankin’ angel?”

Donnie said nothing.

“Your ragtag team seems… intriguing. A med school drop out-“

Leo stiffened.

“- a daddy’s boy-“

Raph growled.

“- and an angel who doesn’t realize how good he had it.”

Donnie frowned.

Michelangelo leaned forward. “How about this. I give you the information you need- as you need it, of course- if you let me join you on your little cross country adventure.”

Leo and Raph glanced at each other.

“I am not sure that is wise,” Donnie murmured.

Raph looked at Michelangelo. “Would you give us a minute?”

He beamed. “Take all the time you need.”

The humans turned to the angel. “Why don’t you think this is a good idea,” Raph hissed.

“Demons are tricky and manipulative by nature,” Donnie said. “If he is not sealing the deal with a pact as sure as your soul, he cannot be trusted.”

“And who’s to say he has knowledge Donnie doesn’t?” Leo added.

“It’s better than nothing.”

Leo pursed his lips and Donnie looks away.

“... I wanna try something,” Leo said. “Just before we make any decisions.”

Raph narrowed his eyes. “... fine.”

Leo turned to where Michelangelo was laying in the devil’s trap. “What’s in it for you?”

“Huh?” Michelangelo lifted his head and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“If you’re not getting our souls out of it, then what’s the benefit of traveling with us?”

“You mean besides watching you fail at your quest?” He said before sitting up. “Listen. As much as I flaunt the fact I’m basically in charge of the entire crossroads demon group, I hate it. Responsibility? Blech. Much rather spend my time up here with you miserable humans watching you suffer than making you suffer myself.”

Leo nodded slowly. Raph seemed annoyed by the answer, but Leo was willing to take it.

“Fine.  We’ll let you travel with us, as long as you give us the information we need.”

“Great.” He jumped to his feet. “Now, could you let me outta here?” He pointed to the devil’s trap line.

Leo walked over and bent the blanket under so he could step over. Michelangelo immediately sidled over to Raph’s side and slung an arm over his shoulders. “Since we’re gonna be friends, I’ll let you call me Mikey.”

“Gidoff me,” Raph growled, shoving his arm away, and Mikey laughed.

Leo paused when he passed by Donnie with the rug, watching the angel observe Mikey with a deep frown.

“Hey.” Leo stopped next to him. “Something wrong?”

Donnie glanced down at Leo, then back at Mikey. “Demons can control whether they land in an obviously placed devil’s trap or not.

“But he just… landed right in it without question.”

Leo paused and looked at where Mikey was inspecting the impala with curious eyes. Almost as curious as the demon himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raph = Dean  
> Leo = Sam  
> Karai = Jessica  
> Donnie = Castiel  
> Mikey = Crowley


	13. From Below, Part 4

Sleeping with an angel  _ and _ a demon in the room was a difficult task. Raph hadn’t really considered this until the first night the four of them were together.

Donnie didn’t sleep. They all already knew that. Donnie didn’t need to sleep, he said often, to make sure they didn’t forget. He was an angel, and didn’t fall prey to natural human needs. Raph could roll with that. 

What he could  _ not _ handle was the fact that Mikey felt the need to try and watch TV shows when they were trying to sleep.

At least Donnie was  _ respectful _ with his… guardian angel watching shtick (if Raph were honest with himself, he didn’t particularly like that either). Mikey just had no sense of what he was supposed to do, and when. 

Clearly, Donnie agreed.

“You do understand that humans need to sleep, right?” The angel chose to interject one night as Mikey was respectfully turning down the volume on his show.

Raph groaned and rolled onto his side, looking at the other three in the motel room. Leo was sitting on his bed, reading a book despite how tired he looked. Mikey was sitting with his back against the nightstand, staring at Donnie, who stood in the small kitchenette of the motel room. 

“Well, sure, but they can’t just expect me to sit here and do nothing for twelve hours.”

“Sure we can,” Raph growled. 

Mikey made an annoyed noise at this. “But I’ll get  _ bored _ ! I don’t wanna be bored!”

“We all have to make sacrifices sometimes,” Donnie spoke, and Mikey suddenly scowled.

“Easy for you to say, considering your entire race is based around sacrificing everything to follow your picture perfect god,” the demon sneered.

Donnie bristled. “Don’t you  _ dare _ speak about our Father that way.”

“Oh, puh- _ lease _ . He’s no father of mine, so I can say whatever I like about him. And I think he’s a bitch!”

Donnie’s eyes shone white suddenly and he stormed towards Mikey. Raph tensed in alarm, before Leo suddenly cocked a gun and aimed it at Donnie. 

The angel stopped advancing towards the demon, who had paused in his scrambling for the bathroom at the sound of the gun, and looked at Leo. “It won’t kill me.”

“No,” Leo said levelly, holding his place in his book with his other hand. “But it’ll still hurt, won’t it?”

The angel scowled and stepped back, and Mikey straightened. “Yeah. You’re not as high and mighty as you think you are,” he sneered.

Leo turned and aimed the gun at Mikey. “Don’t be a smart ass. I know this hurts you too.”

Mikey scowled but raised his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. Whatever you say, Hamato.”

“Look.” Leo pointed the gun at the ceiling so he could turn the safety on. “I know you two have your disagreements-”

“Wars,” Donnie corrected. Mikey snorted at his dramatization.

“But.” Leo shot Donnie a glare. “For the time being, you two are going to work  _ with _ each other to help  _ us _ .”

“And after?’ Mikey asked.

“Do what you want.” Leo set the gun aside. “I’m not your god.”

“You’d be better than what we have now,” Mikey grumbled and crossed his arms. 

“Yeah, anyone would be better than Lucifer,” Raph grumbled, hugging one of his two pillows to his chest.

“No,” Mikey said, glancing at him. “I mean  _ God _ .”

“No mortal could be better than our Father,” Donnie snapped.

“Oh really?” Mikey looked at him. “Tell me, Donatello, when was the last time you  _ spoke _ to God.”

Donnie faltered.

“Oh, that’s right. He only talks to his scribe. Or the archangels. Right?”

The angel didn’t say anything.

“What have they been telling you to do? I’m just curious, cause…” Mikey threw his arms out wide. “Earth hasn’t been improved in a couple fucking millenia, and it was supposed to be God’s little paradise.”

Raph growled, putting a pillow over his ear in an attempt to muffle their conversation. If Leo didn't’ do anything about it soon...

“You don’t know his intentions.”

“Yeah well neither do you. Admit it, D. Some mortal that has some goal in his life is much better than a missing God.”

“Oh my god would you two cut it out?!” Raph snapped. “Get out of the damn motel room if you have to, but I am going to crash the fuckin’ car if I can’t get enough sleep!”

“Then I’ll drive,” Leo offered.

“No way in hell I’m letting you drive. You’d crash the car too.”

Leo muttered a soft, “bitch,” under his breath, but didn’t argue, so Raph took it as a win for himself. 

“I think getting out of the hotel is a great idea,” Donnie agreed, turning to the door.

“And what are you gonna do, go bless people with the sight of angels? Get into a fight with another demon?”

“Good point.” Raph sat up. “Mikey, take Don to a bar or something. Get him a drink.”

“I will  _ not _ put alcohol into my vessel.”

“Consider it a job. From me. You’re helping us,” Raph said, grinning.

“By getting drunk,” Mikey elaborated. “Sounds like a great idea to me.”

“I don’t-” Donnie sputtered, but Mikey was already pushing him towards the door.

“Come on, D, you gotta unwind at some point.”

“Don’t people get angry when they drink?”

“Only ‘cause they haven’t drank enough.”

Their conversation was muffled to  indiscernible levels once the door closed and Raph fell back onto the bed with a sigh.

“Was that really a good idea?” Leo murmured.

“Don just needs to get out more,” Raph argued as he rolled onto his side and hugged the pillow to his chest again. “Mikey seems like the perfect little gremlin to show him the ropes.”

“Can we trust Mikey?”

“‘D rather not think about that while I’m trying to sleep.”

“Right…” Leo trailed off, and after a moment turned a page in his book.

“Aren’t you tired?” Raph asked at the sound of paper rustling.

“Sure,” Leo said vaguely.

“So… why aren’t you sleepin’?”

There was a long pause. 

“Why-”

“You don’t gotta answer if it’s seriously that much of a problem,” Raph growled at the hesitancy.

“Well, Raph, I’m sorry if  I just assumed you don’t want me to talk about my feelings every damn second of the day.”

“I was just  _ asking _ -“

Leo slammed his book shut. “I can’t sleep without seeing Karai.”

A long silence stretched between the two and Raph shifted. An uncomfortable feeling was welling in his chest- some awful combination of pity and embarrassment and what he was afraid was empathy.

Gross.

“Sorry.”

“For what.”

“For askin’.”

“Whatever.” Leo tossed his book carelessly onto the nightstand and it knocked over the landline phone. He didn’t bother to pick it up, instead turning the light on and laying down on the bed.

Raph had trouble falling asleep that night.


	14. Highway to Hell, Part 1

After the night in the hotel, Donnie and Mikey hadn’t spoke to each other, which was… unnerving, to say the least. The car was silent. It was nice, Raph thought, for the first few hours. As time wore on, though, he realized it wasn’t a comfortable silence. It was more of a murderous silence, if that made sense (it didn’t in Raph’s head, but he didn’t know how else to describe it).

Donnie and Mikey wouldn't look at each other, nor speak when they were spoken to. Leo gave up on trying pretty early on, instead choosing to sleep with his forehead against the glass window. Occasionally, Raph would reach over and wake Leo up to make sure he didn’t make his neck sore, and eventually Donnie caught on to the pattern so he was able to reach around and poke Leo’s shoulder until he woke up.

That was the extent of what the supernatural beings did for the duration of the ride. 

When they got to New York, Raph drove straight to the storage unit. It was two in the morning, and he could tell Leo was itching to be out of the car for the chance to sleep in a real bed, but there was excitement welling in his stomach. They were  _ so close _ . If they could just get to the storage unit they could find  _ something _ .

“How are you going to get in?” Leo mumbled as Raph parked the car. With it being so early, no one was there to let them in, and they didn’t have a key to the storage unit. Splinter never would’ve handed that over.

“Break shit.”

Raph watched Mikey perk in the rearview mirror.

“You can’t be serious,” Leo murmured.

“Sure as hell can.” Raph leaned over and opened the glove box in front of Leo, grabbing a pair of wire cutters. “Come on.”

“Can I come?” Mikey finally asked, and Leo jumped slightly, almost like he’d forgotten the demon was there.

Raph glanced at him. An almost childishly hopeful glint sparkled in Mikey’s eyes.

“... yeah. Sure. Why not.”

“I’ll stay here,” Donnie murmured as the three of them got out of the car.

Raph headed over to the chain link fence they’d parked the closest to and bent down, cutting open a hole close to the ground that was about big enough for a large dog to crawl through.

“This is the stupidest thing I have  _ ever _ done,” Leo muttered as he watched Raph crawl through the hole. The metal snagged his flannel and Raph had to tug to get through.

“C’mon Leo.” Raph got up and dusted himself off.

“Yeah Leo,” Mikey said from behind Raph, who nearly jumped out of his skin.

“What the hell?!”

Mikey grinned, rocking onto the balls of his feet and then back onto his heels. “I’m a demon, remember?”

“How could we forget,” Leo mumbled from where he was climbing through the hole.

“And you didn’t think to  _ tell _ us you could teleport?”

“I like watching you struggle,” Mikey said with a grin.

Raph narrowed his eyes at the demon as Leo got to his feet and brushed himself off.

“Do you know which garage it is?” Leo asked, and Raph turned to the rows of storage units. The ginger nodded and started moving down one of the rows.

Raph has the path to the storage unit memorized. Unlike Leo, he had come here a lot with Splinter when they were kids. He knew every dent in the garage door, the way he had to jiggle the lock to get it unlocked, and exactly what he had to do to get it open without a key.

The inside looked like every other storage unit Splinter had across the country. Weapons, books and relics were stacked in boxes and shelves. Some boxes were taped shut, labeled ‘Raph’ or ‘Leo’ and looked like they hadn’t been touched in years.

Raph moved through the storage unit to the desk in the back, and turned on the desktop lamp. There were papers on different monsters and hunts Splinter had completed before leaving New York in the hands of city hunters. The entire storage unit hadn’t been touched in twenty years, at least.

This discouraged Raph more than he cared to admit.

The group returned to the car rather quickly, finding nothing of use in the storage unit. Raph sat down in the driver’s seat but didn’t start the car, instead staring out the windshield.

“What happened.” Donnie glanced at Raph, then at Leo.

Leo glanced at Raph, before looking back at the dark horizon. “We didn’t find anything.”

Raph slammed his hands against the wheel suddenly, making the others look at him. “Dammit!”

Leo bit his lip. “We can look somewhere else-“

“I don’t know where else we  _ can _ look!”

“We could find the other storage units-“

“That could take  _ months _ , Leo!”

“If you weren’t going to listen to my help,” Leo snapped. “Then why did you drag me along?”

“I know someone we could ask,” Mikey said and the car fell silent.

Raph turned to look at him over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“I have connections,” Mikey mused, leaning back with a smirk.

Donnie stiffened and turned to Mikey. “Don’t you  _ dare _ ,” he hissed, but it was too late and he knew it. Raph was desperate, looking for anything that could give them answers.

Even if it meant talking to the Devil.

As Raph drove to find a motel for them to stay on, Mikey scribbled some things on a piece of paper Leo had given him. “Getting mortals- and an angel- into hell unscathed takes a bit more work than it takes me to get into hell. Otherwise a bunch of alarms go off and… well…” He didn’t finish that thought, instead holding up the piece of paper. “This is everything I’ll need to get us there and back.”

Before Leo could take the paper though, Donnie snatched it from his hand and looked it over.

“I can get all of this,” Donnie said.

Raph glanced at Donnie in the rear view mirror. “Are you sure you can-“

“I’m sure,” Donnie said and, without another word, disappeared from the back seat.

Leo frowned and glanced back at where Donnie has just been. Mikey leaned back, looking back out the window.

“How often is he just gonna up and leave us like that,” Raph growled, disgruntled by the disappearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Donnie you flaky bitch.


	15. Highway to Hell, Part 2

“I can’t fuckin’ believe him!”

Raph, Leo and Mikey had found a cheap motel on the outskirts of New York, and settled in for the night. Raph was pacing between the beds and the TV, looking like he was about to punch a hole straight through the wall into the neighboring room. 

“We’re supposed to be doin’ this shit  _ together _ !”

“Raph, calm down. He’s trying to help, and he can probably do it faster than we could have together.”

Leo listened to Raph pace from where he was laying flat on one of the beds, his attempt at meditating being interrupted by Raph’s angry stomping. 

“He could at least tell us where he is!”

“Angels are kinda bad at that.”

Mikey had settled down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, playing on a Nintendo Switch. How he came in possession of one was beyond the humans, and they didn’t care enough to ask.

When Mikey spoke, Raph turned to him with a scowl and an accusatory point of his index finger. “He’s been like this ever since  _ you _ two ran off!”

Mikey lowered his Switch slightly, frowning at Raph. “You  _ told _ us to leave. Why are you getting mad at me?”

“What happened while you were out?”

Mikey opened his mouth, shut it, and looked back at the gameboy without speaking. Leo opened one eye and glanced at him.

Raph folded his arms, glowering. “Well?”

The demon finally sighed and turned the gameboy off.

 

_ Mikey was ‘lightly buzzed’ when the angel and the demon finally left the establishment. The smaller danced around the sidewalk like an eight year old would when he’s out with his mom running errands. Donnie walked beside him, outwardly emotionless, as he had been for the past few hours. _

_ “The idea of ‘angels’ is kinda funny to me,” Mikey said as he tapped his hands hyperactivity on the wall. _

_ Donnie glanced at him. “Oh?” _

_ “Yeah. Like… the human definition is something about… Virtue and proper conduct. That’s the angel idea people have in their head. But that doesn’t really describe angels, does it.” _

_ “Humans are just flawed.” _

_ “Well yeah they are. No wonder God just up and left them.” _

_ Donnie growled and turned, slamming his hands against Mikey’s chest and forcing him to fly back into the alleyway they were passing. “Our Father would not just  _ leave  _ them. He put all His hard work into making them. They’re His creations.” _

_ Mikey got to his feet and scowled at Donnie, eyes shifting to their natural demonic red color. “Are you sure about that? Painters abandon half finished projects all the time. As one, I would know.” _

_ “I have faith in him.” _

_ “Have you not been  _ watching  _ the humans? Faith can’t fuel all your actions, or else you end up killing people! But angels wouldn’t care about that, would you?” _

_ “We kill because we  _ have  _ to.” _

_ “And what’s your motive?” Mikey stepped forward. “Because someone disrespects your ‘Father’? Because someone worships Satan?” _

_ “No,” Donnie seethed, and a silver knife suddenly fell out of the loose cuff of his undershirt. “It’s to erase scum like you off the face of the earth.” _

_ Mikey’s eyes widened and he barely had a moment to let his drunk mind react before he suddenly stepped to the side when Donnie lunged at him. _

_ “You think killing me is gonna help you in your goal?” Mikey sneered when Donnie turned to strike again. Mikey moved to the side effortlessly. “You realize how angry Raph and Leo would be if you killed me, right?” _

_ Donnie paused. _

_ Mikey threw his arms out dramatically, smirking. “Angels are the  _ last  _ things they wanna be working with. All it would take is one wrong move and…” Mikey leaned forward, dragging a finger across his neck. “You’re off the team.  _ Permanently _.” _

_ Donnie stared at him, slowly sheathing the angel blade. Suddenly, abruptly, without another word, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the night, leaving the drunk demon to stumble back to the motel by himself. _

 

“Angel blade?” Leo asked.

At the same time, Raph bristled. “We’re a goddamn  _ team _ , Mikey! You can’t just threaten someone in our group with  _ failure _ !”

“I was drunk!” Mikey protested. “And besides, it’s not like he hasn’t heard it before. The angel higher ups are assholes. Being told he’d be removed from a team is probably something he gets told a lot.”

“That just makes it worse,” Leo sighed with a shake of his head, before restating his previous question. “What’s an angel blade?”

“Angel blades are one of the few things that can outright kill demons.” Mikey picked the Switch up. “He threatened my life.”

“That doesn’t mean that you just go and hurt his feelings,” Leo said, finally unfolding his legs from their folded, meditative position.

Mikey scowled. “So what am I supposed to do, apologize?”

“Yeah?” Raph said, sounding confused as to why Mikey didn’t find apologizing the immediate response.

“Assuming we can  _ find _ him.” Leo pulled his phone out of his bag.

The demon wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

The motel was silent for a few moments, before Leo’s phone went off loudly with a phone call. He jumped and dropped his phone onto the carpeted floor at the noise, and Raph looked over with a frown. 

The ginger bent down to pick it up and answered it, disregarding the caller ID. “Who is this.”

“Raph-”

“Don?! Where are you?”

Leo looked up from where he was standing next to the bed awkwardly, and Mikey made a quiet  _ tsk _ sound from across the room. 

“Uh…” Donnie sounded out of breath and some distant crashing Raph couldn’t quite hear sounded. His heart pounded in his chest.

“What’s going on?”

“I just-” His voice fizzled, some loud noise filling the speaker with static and Raph had to pull the phone away to keep from making his ear buzz with the noise. He was immediately back on the line once the noise had faded.

“Don?!”

The end was still crackling, but Donnie was audible again.

“Raph, I need help.”


	16. Highway to Hell, Part 3

As it turned out, the angel was not as capable as his teammates believed he was when it came to fighting mythical creatures. Demons and fellow angles were a cinch, he claimed.

Unfortunately, something like a chimera hiding in the caves of northern Arizona was not. 

The reason, Raph figured as the three person group drove across the desert expanse, that the call had been so broken was because Donnie was deep in a cave that had been cut off from tourists, trying to extract some ingredient Mikey called for that had, unknowingly, been protected by some sort of beast. Mikey sat lounged across the back seat, watching Raph reason through this and saying nothing.

“Why would we know the location and not the fact that a chimera was protecting it?” Leo asked with a frown, watching the unfamiliar species of cacti fly by in the window. 

“That’s probably a mistake on my part,” Mikey spoke up, and Leo turned to look at him.

“What do you mean.”

“I gave him the ingredients,” Mikey drawled. “And the approximate locations. But how was I supposed to know security had been improved since I last visited?”

Raph scowled at the empty expanse of freeway ahead of them, clenching the wheel in a white knuckled grip. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me…”

“Okay, fine. You screwed up.” Leo waved it off. “That’s not what we need to talk about. What we  _ need _ to talk about is-- how the hell are we supposed to fight a chimera?”

“Beats me.” Mikey chewed on a hang nail and looked out the window uncaringly. 

“I’m drivin’.” Raph glanced at Leo. “Looks like research is up to you.”

Leo grunted and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Yeah, yeah. Put a sock in it. What was he going after, anyway?”

Mikey looked over. “Sand.”

“That’s it?”

The demon rolled his eyes. “It’s a special  _ kind _ of sand, dummy. The Kartchner Caverns cave system has been making all kinds of super special minerals for hundreds of years. This particular sand is something I need to be able to get an angel undetected into Hell. If it was just you two, I wouldn’t have had to send Don on such a dangerous operation.”

“How sly of you,” Leo muttered. “Making the angel risk his life so he can get into Hell instead of doing the work yourself.”

“It’s my job to deceive and manipulate. And I’m really damn good at it.”

“But you’re not getting anything out of it,” Raph argued.

“All the more reason to have fun with it.” Mikey grinned. “I’m not getting a soul, so might as well get a laugh. Besides, chimeras can’t kill angels. Just, you know. Wound them severely.”

Raph growled, looking like he was going to punch a hole right through the windshield, but Leo reached over and set a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t bother,” he muttered, in reference to getting angry at the demon.

When they approached the entrance of the caverns, Mikey instructed Raph to go off the road and head around in the desert towards a hidden back entrance the bats were allowed to fly in and out of during breeding season. Leo’s concerns about disturbing the bats with the human scent was ignored as the three crawled into the blocked off areas of the caverns.

“People have gone to a lot of effort to protect this,” Leo muttered as he skirted the stalagmites.

“Shut up,” Raph growled.

“Then they shouldn’t have let a chimera run around bowling stuff over with it’s body weight,” Mikey said, pointing to where a broken stalactite had fallen to the floor. “Come on, this way.”

The three crept along the railed pathway, until the path of broken rock veered off into a deeper, undeveloped part of the cavern. Mikey slid under the railing to walk along the slick cave floor, and Raph and Leo had no choice but to follow.

“Did you figure out how to kill it?” Raph asked, voice piercing the silence and echoing down the stone corridor.

“Bellerophon used a hunk of lead to defeat the chimera,” Leo recited. “Threw it into the lion’s mouth so that the flame melted it and choked it to death.”

Mikey stopped and Raph almost ran into him. “You didn’t think to mention that  _ before _ we got into the cave?” The demon hissed.

“You didn’t ask-” Leo started, but Mikey suddenly turned and pinned them both to the ground as a spout of fire shot out from the dark end of the tunnel they were travelling along.

“What the hell?!” Raph cried. Mikey surged to his feet, grabbing Raph’s arm in one hand and Leo’s arm in the other, and yanking them to the side, hiding them behind some stalagmites.

“What are you doing,” Leo hissed. “We can help you!”

“Not against a chimera,” Mikey retorted as he rummaged around in his pockets, pulling out several graphite sticks. “Stay here.”

“What the-- where did you get those?” Raph moved to watch as Mikey started heading back in the direction of the fire.

Mikey paused and glanced at him long enough to answer, “a true artist never leaves his supplies behind.”

Leo blinked as Mikey bolted back down the tunnel, disappearing behind the stone wall. Leo grabbed Raph’s arm before the hothead could follow.

“Stay here,” Leo growled.

“Let me go!” Raph tugged on his grip, but Leo forced him to sit back down.

“If Donnie is hurt, and Mikey gets hurt, we don’t want you  _ dying _ .”

Raph stared at him before letting out an exasperated sigh and sitting against the stalagmite. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“You could’ve just said you hate me.”

Raph punched his shoulder lightly, and Leo chuckled. Roars echoed down from the tunnel but the two stayed put, until irregular patterned footsteps echoed into the room. 

Raph was the first to look around the stalagmite, and he immediately scrambled to his feet. Leo quickly followed suit. 

Mikey walked down the tunnel with Donnie leaning against him heavily. The angel was wounded and limping, leaving a noticeable trail of blood behind him. In his free hand was a Ziploc bag with some brown-yellow sand that glimmered in the low light that came from the lit up path behind them.

“Don,” Raph breathed, worried but relieved, and he moved over to help support Donnie’s other side. Mikey let go and reached out to take the bag from the angel, pocketing it solemnly.

“The chimera?” Leo asked.

“Dead,” Mikey responded.

Leo nodded. “Sorry about your art supplies.”

The blonde shrugged. “I never use graphite sticks anyway. Too messy.”

Leo nodded again and looked back to watch Donnie heal his wounds over with a white, angelic light. 


	17. Highway to Hell, Part 4

A few hours of a silent drive later, the four settled into a motel room in Tucson, and Raph forced Donnie to stay in bed, despite the angel insisting that he was fine enough to stand. 

Leo listened to the two argue lightly back and forth about it, tired but not tired enough to sleep through people talking. Mikey stood next to him, leaning against the wall and playing on his phone.

Leo glanced at him, watching the way Mikey frowned and tapped the screen a little too violently. 

“Mikey.”

“Huh?” He looked up at Leo when he heard his voice, eyes flickering between Leo and his game.

“How’re you doing?”

The demon frowned and paused his game. “Why are you asking.”

Leo shrugged. “No real reason. You just look like you’re beating your phone up.”

“It can handle the strength of a few ferocious taps. It’s not fragile.”

“That’s not my point and you know it.”

Mikey looked away, scowling and folding his arms. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid to have feelings.”

“It is for a demon!  _ Especially _ if it’s about an angel…”

“Who’s gonna know?”

Mikey was quiet, and Raph walked in from the other half of the room. “He won’t rest.”

Leo looked at him. “He’s an immortal being. What did you expect?”

Raph shrugged weakly. Mikey pushed himself off the wall. “I’ll go talk to him,” the shorter muttered, pushing past Raph into the sleeping quarters of the motel.

Raph blinked. “... is he okay?”

“I think he feels guilty for putting Donnie in a situation that got him hurt.”

The ginger frowned but nodded as he sat down at the table across from Leo, who glanced over at him. Raph fidgeted with his hands, and didn’t speak for a moment.

“... You look about as pent up as Mikey did,” Leo commented idly.

Raph sighed. “I, uh… think we need’a talk.”

Leo paused.

“I know you’re mad at me for barging in on your life and takin’ everything you’d worked so hard for from you, all for somethin’ that doesn’t even affect you as much as it affects me. But… Dad meant- still means- a lot ta me, and I just… I guess I assumed you’d be willin’ ta see my point of view long enough to help me.”

Leo watched his brother fidget and shift, very clearly uncomfortable with having to share his emotions to resolve anything. He looked down at the dirt in the grout between the tiles of the kitchenette, biting his lip.

“I… You know you were Dad’s favorite.”

“I see that now, yeah.”

“And that I gave up a  _ lot  _ to join you on this trip.”

Raph nodded.

Leo shifted. “... but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to come.”

A pause. Then, “huh?”

Leo sighed. “I still care about Dad. He didn’t care for me the same way he cared for you, and honestly looking back of it, he was kind of neglectful.” Raph snorted. “But I still…  _ care  _ about him. He was my Dad too. Even if he didn’t always act like it.”

“... so you aren’t mad at me?”

“No, I’m mad at you. Not because you pulled me away from what I knew to look for him, but because in the process you  _ destroyed _ what I had.” Leo’s voice cracked and he swallowed. “There isn’t an apartment at the college waiting for me. Karai isn’t there, calling me to check in on me.  _ That’s _ what I’m angry about.”

“Then why did you pray ta Don to get it over with?”

“... I was hoping that maybe if we finished fast enough, there would still be something for me to return to.” He paused, and pulled his phone out of his pocket, thinking he felt it vibrate. His notification center was empty. “... but it’s been… long enough since Karai called or texted… it’s finally starting to sink in that I really don’t have anything to go back to.”

“... I should’ve… done more to keep her from coming with us.”

“... yeah. Me too.”

The two lapsed into silence, and the only sound heard was cars driving outside in the parking lot, and quiet murmurs from the supernatural creatures in the other half of the room.

“ _ The point is _ , I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, and I… I’m sorry.”

“You’re… apologizing?”

“Yes, D, that’s what I’ve been trying to do this  _ whole time _ .”

“I could’ve told you the chimera was there.”

“Wh- then why didn’t you?!”

“I wanted to see what would happen if I didn’t.”

“You bitch!”

Donnie snickered as Leo stood up. Raph looked over. “Where ya goin’?”

Leo paused in stretching his arms over his head and glanced at him. “To bed. Where did you think I was going?”

“So… are we good?” Mikey asked as Leo stepped over to the beds.

The angel considered the question, before nodding. “Just try to not do it again.”

“Yeah,” Mikey agreed. “And maybe  _ tell  _ me next time there’s a chimera in the way.”

Leo sat down on the bed and shrugged his overshirt off, throwing it to the end of the bed and watching it fall to the floor. Raph stood up, walking over and picking it up off the floor. 

“Are we good?” Raph asked as he set the shirt on the end of the bed.

Leo kicked his shoes off and lay back on the bed. “... yeah. Just don’t turn my next girlfriend into a vampire.”

Raph scowled. “Fuck you.”

Leo snickered as Raph moved to shove Donnie off the second bed and lay down. “Night Leo.”

“Night Raph.” Leo pulled the sheet up over his shoulders. “Mikey, if you turn on the TV, I  _ will _ shoot you.”

Mikey huffed and dropped the remote back on the nightstand.


	18. Into Hell, Part 1

“Don’t touch that.”

“Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Of course I know what I’m doing, dumbass!”

Mikey had said that the spell he had gathered ingredients for had to be conducted on the full moon, giving the group about four days of downtime before Mikey could conduct the spell.

Raph was about ready to shoot someone in the foot.

Mikey sat in a corner of the motel room, gathering the ingredients and preparing a sacrificial bowl by painting runes on the inside of it with what could only be blood. Each of the ingredients were splayed on the floor with careful precision. The sand from Kartchner Caverns was the only thing Raph recognized. There were various types of roots, at least two piles of seeds, and a jar of what looked like tongues.

“Sorry Mike, but you can’t set stuff like that out and expect Raph to _not_ touch it.” Leo lay flat on the bed closer to the door, disrupting his meditative breathing to try and stop their fighting.

Raph sat on the bed, watching Mikey blow the blood on the bowl dry. “Then he better be okay with me cutting his hand off.”

“Ow, no.” Raph immediately moved away from the edge of the bed. “I don’t know about you but I need both my hands.”

Mikey rolled his eyes and sprinkled some of the sand on the bottom of the bowl. “I’m sure I could live without one or two.”

“How many more days until the full moon?” Raph asked, laying back on the bed with an exasperated sigh.

“The apex is tomorrow night,” Donnie said from where he was observing the two cases of beer on the kitchen table with a frown. “Can’t this much alcohol kill you?”

“Only if your liver is shot,” Leo answered in the midst of his meditation.

“And yours are in perfect condition?”

“Hey.” Raph pointed at him. “I die with _no_ judgement.”

Leo sighed and sat up. “Mikey, is there anything you need?”

“Uh… yeah, could you get me a mortar and pestle?”

“The fuck is that?” Raph asked.

Leo grabbed a small porcelain bowl and a stick-looking thing out of a duffel bag next to his bed, and handed it to Raph. “Hand this to him.”

Raph took it and frowned at it, and the small stains in the middle of it, before handing it off to Mikey.

“Thanks.” He opened the jar of tongues and pulled one out with a weird squelching sound, pushing it into the bottom of the bowl and starting to mash it up.

Raph immediately looked away, gagging. “You could’ve given me some warning.”

“That would’ve taken the fun out of it.”

“You’re washing the mortar.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll wash it when I’m done with it.”

 

On the night of the full moon, the four travelled out to the middle of the Arizona desert in the impala, taking careful detours to navigate the lack of four wheel drive.

“You really should get a new car for this,” Leo muttered.

“And give up the impala?” Raph snapped back. “No way.”

Leo rolled his eyes.

Raph stopped the car when Mikey said they got to an open enough area, and left the headlights on as Mikey tumbled out of the back seat with his armful of supplies. He’d mashed the tongue and seeds into a weird pinkish-brown pulp, and gathered the roots up into a pile. The inside of the bowl was coated with sand and blood, and he was hugging it to his chest while holding the jar of pulp in his other hand. Donnie was holding the bundle of roots, and the two walked to the center of the clearing.

Mikey placed the bowl in the center of the sand, and took the roots from Donnie, laying half of them out in a pad in the center of the bowl. He poured the pulp over it, then put the rest of the roots on top of it.

“Here. Draw this in the sand around here,” he said as he handed a paper to Donnie. The angel took the paper with a frown, before drawing the pentagram out in the sand with his finger.

Raph watched with a frown. “This looks pretty damn complicated for getting us into Hell.”

“Well it would be a whole lot less complicated if I wasn’t trying to sneak a goddamn angel into Hell.”

“I don’t have to come,” Donnie muttered.

Mikey paused in his root laying, before turning to look at Donnie with a scowl. “You didn’t think to tell me that _six weeks ago_?!”

“No, we need Don down there,” Raph interjected. “We aren’t gonna let him sit up here alone while we’re down there for who knows how long doing who knows what.”

“You’re going down there, talking to Lucifer, and getting out,” Mikey said as he stepped back from the bowl. “I’m not letting you do anything outside of that, or else the blame falls on my shoulders, and that’s the last thing I want.” He pulled a box of matches out of his pocket and struck one.

Leo frowned. “How long have you had those?”

“I stole them from your bag this morning,” Mikey answered as he dropped the match into the bowl and stepped back. Ferocious flames leapt up from the bowl, glowing yellow-orange, before turning almost a fuschia-like shade of red.

Raph and Leo stepped into the pentagram in the sand, next to Donnie, as Mikey started to chant.

 

“ _Portae inferni aperta wide_

_Nam clara lux de caelo_

_Duc filios tuos et parvuli_

_Caperent detinere close--_

_Decuplo poena, si non sumus found--_

_Ut dux esset et quia alligasset eum vinctum scriptor_

_Recedebat enim ab eo interius clausum cavea_

_Sed audiat nos, in iram_

_Portae inferni aperta wide*_!”

 

As he spoke the spell, the wind began to pick up, swirling the sand and dirt in a circle around the pentagram. The bowl suddenly fell into a pit that appeared at the very center of the pentagram, and the sand around them started to sift, letting their feet and legs sink into it quickly.

They sank into the floor, the wind whipping sand in a circle around them, and the four descended into Hell in a massive whirlwind of sand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Latin doesn't translate perfectly in Google translate, so here's the original version of the spell poem:
> 
> Gates of Hell, open wide  
> For the bright light from the skies  
> Take your children, young and old  
> Take them in and hold them close--  
> Punishment tenfold, if we are found--  
> To the leader, in chains he’s bound  
> Leave him locked inside his cage  
> But let him hear us, in our rage  
> Gates of Hell, open wide


End file.
